The Fierce War
by Seldavia
Summary: It created both a Hero and a Villain, sent the Triforce's balance into flux for thousands of years, and permanently changed the country known as Hyrule. This is how the war began.
1. Chapter 1

In life, Garrett Fletcher had been no one of importance.

He had a small bomb shop in Castle Town. He knew a few Gorons who sold him the raw materials for his wares.

There were other merchants with far larger shops than his. He had merely a small window on the first floor of his cramped house through which he chatted, bartered, and argued with his customers.

He had mentioned a few times to his Goron friends that he might move to the foot of the mountain to serve the small hamlets there. It would be cheaper than Castle Town. He could build his own home, and wouldn't need to pay rent. The Gorons already got money from the materials they sold him, so they wouldn't need to charge the tax that the Hylian King put on all manufactured supplies.

His friend Osu, quite rotund even for Goron standards (Garrett suspected he ate half the rocks he mined), laughed heartily over the discussion in Osu's cavelike home. Garrett's house was too small to accommodate him. "That's treason, old friend. You could charge much lower prices than the merchants in town. And the tax…"

Garrett waved his hand in impatience. "Journey all the way out here for bombs? I doubt it. I understand the tax, I just don't need any of the things that it pays for. No horse to ride on cobblestone roads that constantly need fixing. I'll dig my own well, no need to finance the payment to the Zora for their levy on the waters from their domain. The shop would be in your patriarch's domain, anyway."

Osu frowned. "Aye, but Darunia's a close ally of the Hylian King. He won't allow anything that upsets him."

"Who cares about a small-time merchant?"

"I don't know…"

Garrett smiled. "Don't worry about it, Osu. It's just an idea, a dream. I doubt anything will come of it."

Garrett was a loner, a bachelor, who frequently closed his shop to travel throughout the countryside. His Goron friends knew him to grab hold of an idea, run with it, then drop it like too much baggage when he got tired.

His disappearance might never have been marked by anyone, except for a few chance factors.

His cell door had been left unlocked by another freethinker, who disapproved of the role she had been given.

The Gerudo still traveled to Castle Town looking for luck in love, even though their King had reached maturity.

Garrett's body bore obvious marks of torture, as opposed to mauling by animals or monsters. It held the Gerudo's attention long enough to hear his last words.

_The Shekiah._

_A hidden town behind the mountain._

_The well._

Of the six Gerudo who found Garrett, only two returned home. The tale they told chilled the bones of even their most experienced warriors. Blood-spattered walls, the cries of prisoners taken in peacetime, horrible monsters beyond description. They had entered the underworld itself, tended by the Shekiah with the full knowledge - nay, the _orders_ - of the Hylian King.

The Gerudo King demanded an apology for the deaths of his people.

The Hylian King refused, stating they had trespassed on the Shekiah's land.

A dissident Shekiah announced that they had taken the wrong man, on the orders of the Hylian King.

The Goron Patriarch apologized to the Gerudo King, saying he had reported Garrett, upon receiving misinformation that Garrett planned to stockpile bombs for sedition.

Regardless, the secret was out.

The Zora and Gorons did not believe that even half of the Gerudo's tale was true. But they pulled away from the Hylian King.

The Hylian King called on the leaders of the Zora and Gorons to stand by him, for fear they would turn against him. He promised transparency in return for the unification of Hyrule under him.

The Gerudo struck back, stating officially that they would follow the Hylians' law, but convincing people throughout Hyrule that they should rebel.

Within each race, factions emerged.

The Korkiri found increasing numbers of strangers entering their forests, seeking shelter from the oncoming storm.

So began the Fierce War.

---

Relo bowed low before the statue of Nayru carved in turquoise, then placed an offering of watercress and fish roe on the altar at her feet. The statue stood maybe about half as tall as he was, and her flowing robes demonstrated the artistic style of the Zora ancients. This enormous stone, with veins of soapstone accentuating the folds in the blue-green dress, had been found in the cenote cavern that had served as the base of the Water Temple. In one hand Nayru held an hourglass, and in the other she held an owl. The Triforce symbol stood out prominently on the altar, with her triangle finished in gold leaf.

How long he stood in the main chamber, Relo did not know. The Zora priestess who maintained the huge meditation room at the center of the temple said nothing as she tended to the pipes that kept the water flowing at a soft, steady stream, assisting the pilgrim in his or her intimate conversation with the Goddess.

The priestess watched the water flow, then pulled a lever slightly on her left. This lever shifted the water level in Lake Hylia, where the Water Temple rested. The ancient scriptures stated that Nayru had come to a young Zora in a dream, ages ago, and instructed him to build this temple. That young man later became their first King.

Finished, Relo bowed once more to the statue and then nodded his head in respect toward the priestess as he left the room. She returned it with a smile, then returned to her duty of watching the Everlasting Waves.

It was a long swim/walk back to the entrance. This had been part of the architect's - or rather, Nayru's - plan. This way, one did not approach the Goddess with a spirit tainted by anger or haste. The temple itself was a method of meditation, and every Zora who went in came back out refreshed.

Just as Relo reached the three-tiered tower that sat in the last room before the entrance, he glanced down into the water and nearly jumped out of his skin.

A monster stood down on the bottom, a leathery brown thing with a round head. It looked vaguely like a person, and walked on two feet like one. Relo's mind immediately jumped to the tales of zombies that haunted some of Hyrule's holiest places, and he scrambled backward. Then he saw the string.

Some sort of rope came out the side of the head and traveled all the way up the side of the temple to the entrance. Relo stopped panicking and edged closer for a better look. The creature ambled along in no apparent hurry, and after a few minutes, it glanced up and waved at him in a friendly manner.

Relo stepped into the water, taken aback but curious. This was no monster; but then, what was it?

"Why, hello there, old friend," said a familiar voice from a little grille just below the "face". "Didn't recognize me in this get-up, did you, Relo?"

Relo peered into the hatch marks that made up the "face". He could barely see two eyes twinkling at him through glass. "Dr. Mizumi?"

The old man laughed with relish. "Gave you a scare, did I, Relo?"

Relo laughed too, out of relief as well as amusement. "What in the name of the Goddesses is that thing, Dr. Mizumi?"

"This," Dr. Mizumi said proudly, extending his arms and turning in a circle, "is a Zora Suit. Or Diving Suit. I haven't really decided what to call it yet."

"Not a Zora Suit! You look more like a ReDead than a Zora!"

Dr. Mizumi made a mock-angry face that Relo couldn't see. "That's a fine thing to say! For the first time in twenty years I've been able to come into this temple again. I'm too old to be swimming around like a fish! Er, though, I do have to admit I don't look much like a Zora."

"What's the tail for?" Relo asked, pointing to the rope.

"Careful with that! That's my air line. I need it to breathe!"

Relo frowned at it. "And you just have it sitting on the shore outside? What if you accidentally pull it in?"

"No worries. My young apprentice is back on shore, making sure I don't drown. I have to give him a signal every few minutes to let him know I'm alive." He made three short tugs on the hose. "He has explicit instructions to pull the whole thing in as fast as he can if I don't respond."

"I see age hasn't taken away your taste for adventure," Relo said with a grin.

"Research, Relo, Research," Dr. Mizumi said sagely. "This lake holds many mysteries, and I'm more than happy to while my life away examining them."

Relo frowned. "It doesn't pay to disregard the Goddess."

Dr. Mizumi made an indelicate sound. "How am I disregarding her if I'm looking more closely at her treasures? I don't have to be a fish-person to appreciate them. Besides," he said with a chuckle, "you know I'd never tell the rest of Hyrule who really controls the flow of the river. "

"It's not just a lie," Relo said, crossing his arms. "Nayru chose us to build the Temple."

"And I'm not saying you don't deserve that honor, old friend." He clasped Relo on the shoulder, as well as he could in the bulky suit. "No worries. I won't tell any of your secrets. I have no interest in politics."

Relo let out a sigh. "Sorry, Dr. Mizumi. The Hylian King has been acting so aggressive, it's starting to worry us. I don't see why we have to be 'united'. Does he even understand how Zora society works?"

"Probably not. But as I said, I care nothing for politics, and I don't know of anybody else who could come in here."

"What about your apprentice?" Relo asked it with much more trepidation than he'd meant, but there was no taking it back.

Dr. Mizumi gave him a long look. "I trust my apprentice," he said at last. "But don't worry. I won't do anything that might betray our friendship…or your people."

Relo breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Dr. Mizumi. I'm so sorry, it's just a sign of the times…"

Dr. Mizumi shrugged it off. "No need for apologies. I don't know what the King is thinking. Don't pretend to, either. Like I said, politics don't interest me."

This time someone on the other end of the hose made three sharp tugs. "That's my signal to go back," Dr. Mizumi said. "Can't stay in this thing too long…I've only tested it in the tank beneath my house. See you later, Relo." He pulled a little string and a series of little balloons inflated, carrying him to the entrance in comical fashion. Relo laughed as he waved good-bye to his friend.

Dr. Mizumi stumbled onto the shoreline, pulling at the helmet. "Confounded thing! Boy, help me out here."

His apprentice stepped forward and gripped the helmet in both hands. "How did it work, sir?"

"Beautifully, Tahm, beautifully." Dr. Mizumi slowly pulled off the suit and handed it to the young boy, an up-and-coming scholar from the castle town. Tahm carefully packed up the air pump he had been using all this time, rubbing his sore arms.

"Could I have a try at the diving suit?" He asked.

"Soon." Dr. Mizumi walked a little unsteadily. "I don't want to risk you getting hurt. If something happens to an old man like me, it doesn't matter, but I'd hate to see you drown because I wasn't careful."

"You're not that old, sir. You used to swim in there by yourself, didn't you, sir?"

Dr. Mizumi arched his back; a series of crackling sounds ran up his spine, and he winced. "Years ago, lad. And I had to train myself to hold my breath that long. Plus, it would make me sick sometimes. Still haven't pinned down what does that."

Tahm picked up the discarded suit and tucked it under his arm, with the pump in his opposite hand. He offered his elbow to Dr. Mizumi, who took it. "Should I get a healing potion from Selina?"

Dr. Mizumi shook his head. "I don't want her going to the Lost Woods for ingredients unless it's absolutely necessary. Something has angered its guardian spirit; many people who have gone in and not returned as of late, and more Stalfos have been patrolling its borders at night."

Shivering, Tahm led Dr. Mizumi back to his house, a two-story cottage that was actually more research facility than home. Both slept upstairs, in separate tiny rooms. "Go ahead and sleep, sir," said Tahm. "I'll put away the equipment for you."

"That's a good lad," Dr. Mizumi muttered, inching up the stairway.

Tahm waited until he heard the bedsprings squeak and Dr. Mizumi's contented sigh. Then he gathered up the suit and pump and crept out the door, closing it softly behind him.

---

Dr. Mizumi awoke very late the next day, and groaned in pain as he sat up. "Tahm, lad, bring me a bit of tea, will you?" he called out.

No answer. "Tahm? Tahm!" Slowly, painfully, he got out of the bed. Shuffling over to the boy's room, he peered inside. The bed had not been slept in all night.

Concerned, Dr. Mizumi inched his way down the stairs until he stepped into the lab. The pump and diving suit lay sprawled across the floor in a puddle of water. First Dr. Mizumi breathed a sigh of relief, satisfied that Tahm had not gone off and drowned in the Temple in an attempt to explore by himself. Then he groaned and growled to himself as he attempted to clean up, placing the helmet on a shelf, stretching out the suit so that it would dry, and mopping up the water on the floor.

Still no sign of Tahm. "Drat that boy, where's he gone?" Dr. Mizumi asked nobody in particular. He stepped out of the house, scanning the lake. No sign of anyone.

Now he felt anger starting to rise inside him. The boy wasn't hurt, presumably, but where had he gone? Why hadn't he put away the diving equipment?

He spotted his neighbor, a fisherman, walking to the lake from Hyrule Field. "Hello there!" Dr. Mizumi called out. "Have you seen my apprentice?"

The neighbor stopped, his fishing pole swinging over his shoulder. "I have, friend," he called back. "I was coming back from the castle town, and he was walking toward it, in the fields. I figured he was on some errand of yours so I didn't say anything."

"What's wrong with him?" Dr. Mizumi thundered. "If he wanted a day off to see his parents, I would have granted it. He's going to get himself hurt, sneaking off in the middle of the night."

Jerking his thumb over his shoulder, the neighbor asked, "Want me to go see if I can find him?"

Dr. Mizumi shook his head. "I don't want you putting yourself in danger. I'll just have to wait and see if he returns."

He turned round and went back into the house, slamming the door. Sitting down on a little stool near his equipment, he inspected the diving suit. Strange, he thought to himself. There's a little tear in the left glove. I know I didn't do it…

…Did Tahm take this out last night? And if so, why? He's not so spontaneous as to disobey me just for the sake of curiosity…is he?

---

Three weeks later, Tahm had still not returned. Dr. Mizumi, washing his hands of him, sent off a letter to the castle requesting another apprentice. So when a knock came at the door, Dr. Mizumi opened it eagerly.

"Oh, I'm glad to see they finally…what is this?"

Two knights stood there, along with a palace messenger, and behind them stood Tahm. "What's going on?" Dr. Mizumi demanded.

The palace messenger, dressed in plain but fine silks with a little feather in his hat and the Royal Family's emblem on his chest, unrolled a scroll and began reading in a loud voice that bit harsh in the soft summer evening. "His Royal Majesty, King Harakan Hyrule III, has seized this property under the Land Law 342.5, which states that any Building, Dwelling, or Machine that poses a threat to Crown Property can be Seized in the Name of the King, if it is in any of the Provinces governed by the Hylian Throne. As this lake was annexed to the Crown Property of Hyrule during the Fifth Zora Treaty, the Temple which controls the water level is now under the sole control of His Majesty. Long Live the King."

Dr. Mizumi merely stood, mouth agape. The messenger rolled up his scroll and said in more normal tones, "This merely says that the King controls the Temple and the lake's water levels right now." He motioned toward Tahm. "This young man described the setup to His Highness, and he has been authorized to outfit the structure with mechanics that will allow him to control the lake under the King's orders."

Tahm stepped forward, a proud smile on his face. "Well, what do you think? You wanted me to study the lake so that we could get as much benefit from it as possible. Now that it's in the hands of the King instead of the Zora, we don't have to worry about them flooding us in a fit of pique."

"You fool!" Dr. Mizumi stepped forward but was quickly restrained by the knights. "Do you realize what you've done? And why in the name of Nayru would the Zora do something like that?"

Tahm scowled at him. "You've been sitting in this little cottage staring at algae for too long, Dr. Mizumi. Haven't you been paying attention? The other races have been suspicious of us ever since the Shekiah caught the wrong man. I'm not saying anything against your friends…I don't think they would do anything bad. But the Temple's better off in the hands of the King."

"Better off for who?" Dr. Mizumi spluttered. "Do you really care, or was this just some clever maneuvering on your part to better your own position?"

With a snort, Tahm answered, "Nothing has really changed. It'll just be me switching the Temple's water levels instead of some priestess. Does she really know what she's doing? Does she really think she's acting on Nayru's orders? Better to have us do it, and cut out all the smoke and mirrors. When people say they act on behalf of the gods, bad things often happen."

Dr. Mizumi sighed. "That may be so…but I don't see why we had to take it by force. It's their temple, after all. Perhaps the Zora King would have been happy enough to allow us entry."

Tahm shrugged. "Who knows? You said yourself you don't care for politics, and I didn't want it getting in the way of our farmers' fields and the drinking water in the town. It's not like the Zora aren't allowed in their own Temple; they just can't control it anymore. And the King has assured me that the Zora royalty will be given the ability to control it as well…as long as they remain allies."

"As long as they remain allies."

"Would you really want your enemies dictating whether or not your people have enough to drink?"

Dr. Mizumi raised his hands in surrender. "All right, my boy, all right. You've defeated me with a masterful argument. I only wish it had been about something else. I'll get my things." He turned to go back into the house.

"You don't have to leave," Tahm told him. "Like I've said, nothing's really changed. It's still your house."

"With all due respect, boy," Dr. Mizumi called back, "I think I'm going to spend some time at Selina's for a while."

He said nothing about it, but more than anything, he did not think he would be able to stand Relo's accusing stare, the inevitable question of why he had betrayed him.


	2. Chapter 2

Dr. Mizumi's friend Selina ran a small potion shop in the Castle Town. She was slightly older than Dr. Mizumi, and was well known in the town for creating complex potions that few people could, so she felt no threat from the other, younger potion seller in the town square. Given the types of potions she sold, it was better for business to stick to the back-alleys anyway. No need to embarrass the middle-aged women looking for something to spark their husband's interest in the bedroom, or the merchant who put more faith in luck than business sense. Not to mention the fact that having a shop in a backdoor location carried an air of mystery that merited charging an extra few rupees.

But Selina was, above all, a very skilled potion-maker; she did not trust others to get the ingredients she needed, but instead made monthly treks to the Lost Woods to procure her herbs and fungi. She had lived near the forest eaves as a child, and had a speaking acquaintance with the Kokiri; they allowed her to harvest her ingredients from the forest, in return for sweets from the town that they craved.

Though Selina had grown up poor, as the daughter of a woodcutter, she stared appalled at the crude shelters that had cropped up at the very edge of the woods. She had lived in a flat-slat hut, but it was sturdy, and they always had plenty of food and fuel; an entire settlement of blankets over branches seemed to have sprung up overnight.

"You there, young man," Selina shouted at a Hylian boy in his teens, who hefted an axe at the forest's edge. "Watch what trees you fell. Some of 'em are just trees, but some of 'em are aware of what's going on around them."

He lowered his axe with a skeptical look, bordering on irritation. His unkempt hair, torn clothing, and muddy boots indicated he had left in a hurry, and had been wandering around for quite a while. "I've heard that these woods are haunted, but it doesn't make much difference. I need wood for a fire."

Selina squinted at his clothing, plain but well-tailored. "You don't look like a beggar-boy to me. What are you doing out here?"

He matched her question with one of his own. "Are you from the castle town?" He spoke with a challenge and a little bit of fear.

"Yes, what of it?"

His eyes narrowed and he gripped the axe a little more tightly. "You're not of the nobility, are you?"

She scowled at him. "Do I look it?"

He sighed, and put down his axe. "Can't be too careful these days. My mother was a lady-in-waiting, but..." His whole body shuddered. "It's gotten dangerous at the castle."

"Dangerous?" Selina snorted. "Since when has it been dangerous _inside_ the castle walls?"

The boy turned back to the tree he was attempting to fell. "I don't want to talk about it."

Selina scratched her head. Something strange was going on, something that made the boy's eyes twitch inadvertently as if he expected someone to jump out of the woods. She beckoned to him and showed him a patch of grass, pulling it up and pointing to the roots. "This is onion-grass. Decent by itself, but also spices up food fairly well. A little sharper than what you'd taste in the castle or on the farms, but good nonetheless."

His eyes lit up. "Thanks, ma'am, that's good to know." He hesitated for a moment, then extended his hand. "My names Olun. What's yours?"

"It's Selina, lad. I have a potion shop in town. If you're willing, I can show you how to find some decent food here in the forest. Nothing spectacular, mind, but enough to keep your stomach from eating itself."

He stuck the axe in a log on the ground, managing a small smile. "I'd like that very much, ma'am."

"Good lad. The first thing you have to remember," she said as she took a small bag of candies from her pocket, "is that everything here belongs to the forest. So you can't take without giving back, see? It doesn't have to be anything expensive. Shiny junk that you have no use for will work."

"Who takes it, the magpies?" Olun demanded. "Are the birds really going to punish me if I don't give them something?"

"Don't be a fool. There are people living here…the Kokiri. Don't you know them?" Olun shook his head. "They are the guardians of the forest. They're the ones you have to keep happy. Otherwise they'll turn you into some kind of creature…a Stalfos, maybe. You have to watch out for those too. But they're few and far between."

Olun glanced around nervously. "Are you certain? Have you ever seen one of these Kokiri? Or are you jesting with me?"

"No jest. But don't worry. If you're respectful they won't bother you. And they know me, so I can introduce you to any that we might meet." She led him under the forest eaves, into the shade of the ancient trees. "Here, Olun. See these?" She stepped over to a cluster of bright white puffball mushrooms. "These are good to eat, also to settle your stomach. Make sure they don't bleed blue, though," she said as she ran her nail along the cap, and clear fluid followed it. "Those are good for healing potions, but never eat them raw. They'll kill you in a matter of minutes."

He eagerly accepted the little pile of mushrooms she picked for him. "Clear juice good to eat, blue juice bad. Got it."

"You know, boy," she said as she walked along a path only she could see, "I'm getting up there in years, and I might need somebody to harvest my ingredients for me soon. If you're willing to learn, you can earn a few rupees bringing me what I need."

"That would be a big help." He frowned a little. "But does that mean I would have to go to the castle town?"

"I can meet you here, if you like," Selina assured him, quirking an eyebrow but deciding not to push it. "It's just hard for me to go hiking nowadays. Some of the best stuff is found in caves and on cliffsides, and I just don't have the capacity for that sort of thing anymore."

"Hi there, potion lady." Olun nearly jumped out of his skin as a high, childlike voice called to them from their right. He turned to see a girl child dressed in green, with freckles and reddish-brown hair. A small insect - or at least he thought it was an insect - hovered around her head, seemingly giving off a light of its own like a firefly.

"Hello, dear." Selina offered her a sweet from her bag of candy. "How are you today?"

"I'm fine, thank you." She eyed Olun suspiciously, smacking her lips as she ate the candy. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Olun. I'm teaching him the ways of the forest so he can help me in my old age."

Olun bent down with a friendly smile. "Is…is that a fairy?" he asked, nodding toward the firefly.

"Uh huh." She stared him down. "You know how to behave in the forest, right?"

"Selina's teaching me."

"Well, okay." She turned away from him and waved to Selina before heading off with a jouncy walk. "See you later, potion lady."

Olun watched her leave. "Would she really turn me into a Stalfos?"

Selina shrugged. "I honestly don't know if they do it, or their fairies, or if there's some other power here in the forest. But they are its guardians, its ambassadors. On the rare occasion that the King has some business here, it's the Kokiri who speak with him. They have a temple near the end of the forest. I've been there once. It's quite nice…but ancient, and falling apart in places."

Olun shivered again, in spite of the warm day and the exercise. "Well, I guess it's still safer than the castle."

---

"Is that really what he said?" Dr. Mizumi asked Selina over tea, back at a small table in her shop.

"Yes, definitely. Strange, isn't it? I've never heard of anyone within the nobility being afraid of the Royal Family."

"It's the Shekiah." Dr. Mizumi snorted. "I've heard stories about what they do with those who the Crown doesn't like. They're supposed to have their own temple, full of bones and fetid things, where they torture their captives."

Selina snorted back. "You're cheerful today. I understand you're angry at the King for placing that apprentice ahead of you, but let's face it…you're as old as I am. You're going to face up to the fact that you have a successor."

He frowned. "It just seems unnecessary. Sure, the Zora have the power to cut off our water supply, but they've never had a reason to do it. The Gorons have access to bombs, but they don't care about us as long as we leave them alone. And the Kokiri might as well not exist at all, unless you want to live in those dark woods. The only people the King really needs to worry about is the Gerudo…and even they aren't that dangerous, just a nuisance to merchants and wealthy travelers."

Selina shrugged. "I guess when you're a King, you have to worry about such things. The Shekiah are a necessary evil, believe me. Can you imagine what would happen if there was a schism among the royals? He needs to keep only friends about him for the sake of Hyrule's stability." She leaned in close. "Also, I heard a rumor…the Queen is finally pregnant."

His eyebrows flew up. "Really? Maybe that's why he's acting so nervous. It's about time she produced an heir."

"It doesn't work that way," Selina sniffed at him. "A woman doesn't just decide she's going to have babies."

"Well, what's the problem then?"

"I don't know. But I hope for the Queen's sake that the baby is a boy. Because I don't see her being able to have more than one child."

"Oh, you've seen the queen?" Dr. Mizumi asked sarcastically.

"I have my sources. She's a frail one, and has been trying to bear a child for several years now. There are some who aren't sure she'll even survive this birth."

Dr. Mizumi laid his head on his hand, which he propped up on the table with his elbow. "Well, I guess that's why the King is being paranoid. I'm not aware of him having any enemies, though. I mean serious ones, that would attempt a coup."

Selina leaned forward, her voice low. "I've heard that adventure-seekers have gone looking for the Golden Power."

He made a skeptical face. "The Golden Power? During times like these? Who would go through all that trouble?"

"Many, if it's true that it will grant the one who finds it anything he desires."

Dr. Mizumi sighed. "Have some people nothing else to do but chase fairy tales?"

"I suppose not. But since it's the Royal Family's duty to guard the Golden Power, I guess that might be cause for alarm among the royals."

---

Olun's fire burned low, but he stayed close to the embers, even though the Wolfos that prowled at night seemed not to want to enter the forest itself. Some divine power kept dark creatures out…at least the ones that the Kokiri did not create themselves.

He thought about Selina as he ate a bit of the mushroom she had given. Thank the goddesses he had found her! Otherwise he might have starved out here. Or been turned into a Stalfos.

His eyes drooped, and he began nodding off. He had not slept well in weeks. He was haunted, always haunted, and always by the same dream…

---

"They didn't do anything wrong!"

Nobody ever heard him. No matter how loud he shouted, no matter how many times he said it. He shouted at the guards, he shouted at the King. But that never stopped them from taking his parents away.

"You are under arrest for plotting against the Queen," said the head guard, over and over and over. "You are under arrest for plotting against the Queen. You are under arrest for plotting against the Queen."

His parents cried and shouted, argued and stood in stoic silence. The King could not get them to confess. There was nothing to confess.

Then the Shekiah came.

They seemed to appear from nowhere. They seized his parents and all of them melted into the shadows. Then Olun ran, ran hard and ran fast. He had the feeling that the Shekiah could catch him too, were supposed to catch him, but didn't. Didn't want to. One did not want to. He could not fathom why.

He screamed and screamed until he woke himself up with his screaming, then wondered if that alone were enough to scare off the dark creatures of the night. The forest seemed inviting by comparison.

It could not be true…could it?

No. He was still alive. Perhaps the Shekiah had spared him…to find out the truth?


	3. Chapter 3

Luckily for Olun, there were no Wolfos prowling that night, for he fell into a long dreamless sleep that lasted well into the morning, only to be shaken awake.

"Olun, wake up!" a panicked little voice pleaded. He groaned and opened his eyes to see his redheaded younger sister peering into his face with tear-stained eyes.

"Salli?" He groaned and sat up. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, only you were playing dead again," she said resentfully as she wiped her face with a dirty sleeve. "Olun, I'm hungry."

He smiled, and handed her a pile of mushrooms and wild onions he had gathered during his foray into the forest with Selina. "Here, go to the stream and wash these. I'll get some water boiling."

She frowned a little as the mud from the onions added to her already filthy dress. "Just vegetables?"

"Just until we find something better. Go on."

Salli grumpily walked to an offshoot of the river that fed Lake Hylia and gave the vegetables a good washing. When she came back Olun already had water boiling, and after cutting up the onions and mushrooms she threw that into the small pot, one of a very few things they had managed to procure before they fled the castle.

"I want cucco," said Salli.

"I know."

"The rancher in the field keeps cuccos. Maybe if we went to work for him, he'd give us eggs at least."

"You're allergic to cucco feathers, Salli. Besides, I think I found another way to get money, but I need your help."

She sat on the ground and hungrily watched the vegetables turn in the boiling water. "What do you want me to do?"

"I need your marbles."

Her temper flared, and she stood. "Those are mine!"

Olun sighed, stirring the pot and avoiding her eye. "I know you had to leave behind all your toys…"

"And my clothes! And Mom and…" She stopped midsentence and burst into a flood of tears.

Olun put his arms around her, rocking her slowly. "I know, I know. Listen, Salli, I can make money working for the potion lady. Then we can build our own house and buy new clothes. I'll buy you a million better marbles…just loan them to me. You'll get them back threefold, I promise. And I only need one at a time."

Salli sniffed, but pulled a small bag out of her pocket. "How will marbles give us money?"

"I'll give them to the guardians of the forest," Olun explained, holding out his hand. "Then they'll let me take things that grow there, and give them to the potion lady. And she'll pay me to fetch them for her."

Salli considered a bit, lips pursed, as she wove back and forth slightly on the balls of her feet. Then she dug into the bag and pulled out a greenish-yellow marble. "You can have this one," she said. "I never liked it all that much."

He accepted it and kissed her lightly on the forehead. "Thank you, Salli."

Unbeknownst to the two of them, a dark shadow slipped between the trees and moved swiftly away, toward the village hidden in the foothills.

--

"Good morning, my love."

Queen Zelda XI's eyes fluttered open at the sound of her husband's voice, as a young maid opened the thick outer curtains, letting in filtered light through gauzy inner curtains. Another maid placed a bouquet of flowers on the table, small blue-petaled ones that the Queen loved dearly.

King Harakan placed the tray of small pastries on the nightstand by her bed and offered her one of the delicate plates, which the Queen took with slightly trembling, equally delicate hands. Hands that had elegantly held a teacup during their courting, that had created exquisite embroidery during rainy days when their kingdom had been more peaceful. Now they lay limp for most of the day, and he helped her sit up.

She smiled, warm gray eyes watching him as he poured her tea. "You don't need to do that, you know. Where is Abelia?"

"Her son, Olun, is ill, so I told her to take care of him." He passed her the teacup.

"I do hope he is all right," she said absently as she raised it to her lips.

"No worries, my dear. I've taken care of everything." He sat down on the bed next to her. "How have you been feeling?"

"Better, I think. I like to read, but it tires me." She indicated a stack of books on the floor by her bed. "My dear, would you mind bringing me some of my theory? Proper ladies' romances are so dull."

"Of course. But you should sleep if you are tired." His eyes kept wandering to the swell of her abdomen with a slightly worried look.

She gave him a tiny peck on the cheek. "Leave the childbearing to the womenfolk, my dear." With a serious look, she added, "How are things in the court?"

"Oh, nothing to speak of," he replied, a little too quickly.

"No? It gets so boring, lying in bed all day…" She gave him an impish look. "Come, isn't there anything you would like to share with me?"

King Harakan patted her hand. "Now, now, you shouldn't be troubling yourself with matters of state. You need to rest."

A slight shadow passed over her face, but it disappeared with another little kiss to the cheek. "As you wish, my dear."

He smiled warmly. "My Queen…you mean the world to me…"

She nuzzled her face into his cheek. "Stay with me, this morning. Surely you can put off a meeting or two if things are going as well as you say."

He sighed. "I will stay as long as I can. I would much rather be here with you, but…"

"I know." She wrapped her arms around him and he accepted them eagerly. "Just a couple more months."

His hand hovered over her abdomen. "May I?"

She nodded. "Of course."

He could feel new life beneath her silk shift, the growing body of his new son. If only these things did not take so long!

"Dearest," she said slowly, "have you found a midwife?"

"Yes of course," he said absently. "You know her…Eldora…"

She straightened a little. "Husband, I asked for a Gerudo midwife."

His head snapped up. "My dear, we discussed this," he said, a slight edge in his voice. "I do not trust their King to send one that isn't a spy or a thief."

The Queen's voice, too, hardened ever so slightly. "You know there might be complications."

"Yes, but Eldora is very skillful. I'm sure she'll do just fine."

"The Gerudo have the best midwives. They know about all kinds of childbirth problems." The Queen struggled to sit up straight. "Husband, what is most important to you?"

The King's hands fluttered as he shushed her and gently lay her back down on the bed again. "My dear, please don't worry about it. I just need to iron out a few things with the Gerudo King…"

"I can send them a note. They've always reacted favorably to me…"

"That won't be necessary. I'll find a Gerudo midwife, don't worry." He kissed her forehead. "I won't let any harm come to you, I promise."

The Queen touched his hand. "I know, my dear. I'll see you tomorrow morning."

--

"Sire, the Zora are growing restless," the young Shekiah stated in a respective tone, head bowed before the Hylian King. "They show no hostility, but their leader requests an explanation of your seizure of their temple with increasing urgency."

King Harakan frowned. Relations with non-Hylians had never been his strong point. That was his wife's specialty; but on doctors' orders, she had been confined to her room. Harakan had forbidden any talk of politics around her, and when a lady-in-waiting with connections to a large farming family had asked her to press the Zora issue, the King had dealt with the woman swiftly. Nothing would come between him and the stability of the Hylian nation.

"Do you have any recommendations?" This was his way of saying he had no idea what to do.

The Shekiah spoke slowly but confidently, a speech she had carefully prepared ahead of time. "Sire, you need to give them some gesture of goodwill. Not only to the Zora, but also to the Gorons, the Kokiri, and the Gerudo…"

"Not the Gerudo," the King snapped. "Not until they stop their raids on my merchants. That's hardly unreasonable."

"Understood." The Shekiah had not intended to pay the Gerudo any favors for the same reason; but sometimes one had to overstate one's plan to have even a part of it accepted. "It does not have to be any thing strategically significant, like land or rupees. Something valuable, a simple symbol of alliance."

Harakan stroked his chin. "Some pretty bauble, perhaps? A gold icon? A statue?"

"If you would permit me, your Highness…" The Shekiah produced a ruby, emerald, and sapphire of considerable size out of nowhere. "These have been sitting in the Royal Vault for time out of mind. I assume you did not know of them?"

The King looked as if he did not want to admit it, but said, "No, I was not aware that such fine jewels had been collecting dust in the corners of my storerooms. You are proposing we just give them away?"

"Not exactly, Sire. They are valuable simply as jewels, and can be an expression of your appreciation for the other leaders' alliances. But…" Here she glanced around at the guards and the few nobles that always seemed to hang around the King in the Throne Room. "If I could, I would like to speak with you alone, as it would concern the safeguarding of Hyrule's greatest treasure."

Harakan's eyebrows shot up. "Indeed. Come with me to my drawing-room, Impa. You are the greatest of my advisors and I trust your judgment."

--

The King sat and Impa stood, the jewels on a table between them. "We give the ruby to the Gorons, the sapphire to the Zora, and the emerald to the Kokiri. We tell them this will symbolize the Temples they keep - the ones dedicated to Fire, Water, and Forest. But they have a double meaning, woven into magic that my people can use to create a binding spell." She arranged the stones in a triangular pattern. "Din, Nayru, and Farore. Power, Wisdom, and Courage. Three keys needed to open the door to the Sacred Realm and the Golden Power."

"But we already have a key to open the doors in the Temple of Time." The King produced a small blue object from a chain around his neck, hidden beneath his robes. "A specific song must be played on this ocarina, a song only I and my wife know. That isn't enough?"

"An ocarina can be stolen." Impa said. She hesitated slightly before speaking further. "Also, we have evidence that others may have learned the tune, though we do not know how."

A flash of anger crossed the King's face. "Traitors! I'll have the heads of those who…"

"With all due respect, your Highness," Impa said softly but firmly, "You cannot purge every member of your court that has ever had an inappropriate thought." The King stiffened at her words, and it was a measure of her importance in the kingdom that he did not have her arrested right then and there for her bold words. "But if we add this extra measure, the Golden Power will be further protected. The leaders of the three other races will be carefully chosen as someone known to be loyal to the Hylian Crown. Anyone who wanted to gain entry to the Sacred Realm would have to not only take your ocarina, but also attempt to take a highly valued item from one of your close allies. They will be sure to report it missing, if the criminal manages to take it from them at all."

The King considered this for several moments, staring hard at the stones. Then a wide grin split his face. "Brilliant, Impa! With one fell swoop, we can clear up relations with the other races, cement ties with allies among them, and keep traitors out of the Sacred Realm without sullying my image as King with further…unfortunate incidents."

Impa merely bowed.

The King picked up the jewels. "I'll have my jeweler create settings for each of them. I'll leave it up to you and your Shekiah spies to determine which would be the best recipient of the jewels. I can always count on Darunia of the Gorons…he's been more than grateful since I had my knights destroy a nest of dragon eggs they found in the foothills, and I know he has a lot of influence on their Patriarch. I don't know about the Zora King…he seems like a fool, but a wise man can play the fool quite easily. I don't even know where to start with the Kokiri…they've never even sent a messenger to my castle."

Impa bowed again. "We will make the determination in the next few days."

"Excellent, Impa, excellent. You are dismissed."

--

The Shadow Temple, the secret meeting place of the Shadow Warriors, kept its entrance on a small ledge overhanging a graveyard. An appropriate place for a people who since long before the arrival of the Hylians had worshiped the thin line between life and death.

All the people of Hyrule worshiped the Golden Goddesses, but each race was drawn to a specific element that one of the Goddesses controlled. Shadow was one of Nayru's elements; for Wisdom came from being able to see in dark places that others could not. She also controlled Water, which could flow anywhere and reshape even mountains with the passage of time.

Din's elements were Fire and Spirit. Fire brought destruction, but also warmth. All of Hyrule had once been Fire, created when Din made the world through the mouth of Death Mountain. Spirit was the essence of Fire in a living being, its immortal soul.

Farore's domain was the Forest, of living beings. All that walked, flew, and swam were her creation. She controlled Light, Shadow's opposite, all that which is bright and obvious in the world.

The Zora worshiped Water as their lifeblood. Fire gave the Gorons their homes and food. Hylians valued the bright Light above all. The Kokiri worshiped the Forest as the source of all life. The desert-dwelling Gerudo aspired to Spirits that could transcend death in their harsh homeland. And the Shekiah lived in the Shadows, forgotten secrets and the evils that lie in the hearts of men.

To the Shekiah, who had always kept one foot in that of the living and one in that of the dead, Shadow seemed natural to them. Shadow was different from Spirit; it was a quiet, contemplative state of being, that kept to itself in corners and forgotten caverns. Spirit was proof that even something dead could still live. Ghosts and Poes were proof of this. Those interred in the Spirit Temple were preserved; the Shekiah found the absence of decay unnatural. But both housed dark magic, very different from that of Light and Forest.

At the Shadow Temple entrance, a series of torches burned in a set pattern, with etched markings on the floor. Each Shekiah had his or her own torch to light. Impa chanted the simple spell that lit her own flame, the only way to gain entry to the Temple. She cast a glance around at the others, to see who was already there, and frowned.

For thousands of years, ever since the Hylian Royal Family had become the protectors of the Golden Power, the Shekiah had been the protectors of the Royal Family. But several dissidents had called for them to pull away from the Hylian royals.

They stood and glared at Impa with arms crossed, at the huge meeting-room at the very depths of the Temple. Mika, Salinor, and Ulgo.

"Good to see the Hylians' lap-dog has finally arrived," Mika sneered by way of greeting, her red eyes flashing crimson in the torchlight. "We were about to hold the meeting without you."

"Without your leader?" Impa's brother, Digo, snarled across the room at her. The dissidents were growing larger; the two factions stood on opposite sides of the room, and now appeared to be almost equal.

"Feh!" Mika's eyes cut into Impa. "We will die out if we continue to follow this course. The Hylian King is a fool, his wife is a step away from death, and his child will not be a male."

An astonished whispering swept through the room. Ulgo raised his hand. "Mika can see the Truth!" he said in a voice that shattered the air around them without shouting. "You can all feel it. Impa is leading us into disaster."

"War is near," Mika announced to the group. "The Hylian Royals will draw us into it. The King cannot keep peace among the other races without his wife's help. Already he has drawn us into his paranoid delusions, forced us to use our darkest arts against people who did not deserve it. Revolution is coming!"

The meeting-room erupted in clamor. " Revolution can only come about if someone brings it to the surface!" Digo shouted over the din. "Is that a call to arms, Mika?! You speak against the Shekiah code!"

More shouting, then shoving. Suddenly a bright flash silenced them as Impa threw a Deku Nut. She held up her hands. "I can see the Truth," she said in a low, calm voice. "I can see farther into the darkness than Mika. Yes, a time of unrest is coming, and it will involve all of Hyrule's people." She put her hands down. "But you forget…we are the guardians of the Royal Family, which are also the guardians of the Golden Power. Would you readily bring chaos when you know we could readily destroy ourselves? We need the Royal Family's support to survive. Without it we are just homeless shadows."

"It is the Royal family that is endangering the Golden Power!" Mika snapped. "When the Hylian King denies the other races their fair due, they will seek it out. The Zora's Temple has been taken from them. The Gerudo have a King, which throughout history have fought the Hylians to secure glory or even mere survival for their people." She pointed an accusing finger at Impa. "The boy whose parents you killed on the King's whim lives at the forest's edge, along with other refugees. Armies of Stalfos will walk the earth again as the Kokiri use the only weapon they have to secure their home!"

"Which is exactly why we must rely on the Royal Family!" Impa shouted back. "We are bound to them. We cannot rely on allies among the other races in the same way."

"A fine benefactor they are!" Mika sneered, with several shouts of agreement behind her as well as Impa. "We are their martyrs and executioners. No longer!"

"What will you do?" Impa demanded as shouts of 'no longer' echoed throughout the room. "Hide in the Temple during the war? Play mercenary? None of these things are worthy of the Shekiah!"

"We will take what is our due!" Mika cried. The air around her swirled with eager shouts and cries of agreement. "We will use that which we have protected to protect ourselves."

"Mika, stop," Impa said in an abnormally calm voice that somehow carried over the shouts. "Stop now before you go too far."

"Silence!" Mika drew her knife and raised it above her head. "No longer will we hide in shadows! We will claim the Golden P-"

A small, sharp throwing knife jutted from Mika's neck, a short spray of blood hitting Ulgo's face. Mika sank to the floor, her eyes still glazed over in heady ambition. She was dead before she hit the ground.

All eyes turned to the one who had thrown the knife, the whole room as silent as a tomb, the shouts of the eager still ringing in their ears. Impa stood, staring at the body of her peer, breathing heavily. She took a deep breath and raised her blood-red eyes to the group.

"None may speak of such a thing," she said slowly, thickly. "This is the Unbreakable Law."

Slowly, Ulgo stooped to the floor and lifted his dead sister's body, Salinor standing protectively next to him. He walked up to Impa, his eyes burning into her. For a few tense moments they just stood there, as the rest of the Shekiah watched. Then he pulled Impa's knife from Mika's neck and spat upon it, eliciting a few gasps from their audience. "Be thankful," he hissed, "that it is the only Law higher than staying one's hand against a peer. Or I would take your head and leave it for demons of the forest."

He tossed the defiled knife back at her and she caught it. The rest of the Shekiah parted as the three marched out of the room.


	4. Chapter 4

"I don't understand," the Goron Patriarch said slowly as Impa offered him the giant ruby, bright gold skillfully woven around the blood-red jewel. "You do not need to offer a gift in order to secure our alliance. We have always assisted the Royal Family."

"There is more to it, I'm afraid," Impa told him. She had figured the honesty of the Gorons would be a stumbling-block for what the Hylian King wanted. "Under this agreement, you would not sell or give bomb-making materials to any enemies of the Crown."

The Patriarch snorted, his son Darunia standing next to him with an impassable stare. "Meaning the Gerudo, I'm sure. Does your King know that the Gerudo have relied on our explosives to find water springs and carve their homes out of the rock?" His eyes darkened. "Or, perhaps, the King knows this all too well."

"Surely you do not object to a ban on the types of explosives that could be used as weapons. I know there is a difference between mining explosives and war bombs."

The giant, pot-bellied Patriarch leaned back in his chair. In his prime he had been a force to be reckoned with, and claimed that in his youth - long before Impa's parents were even born - he had strangled a juvenile dragon to death with his own bare hands. But he found it difficult now even to lift small boulders, so it was no surprise when his son began accompanying him to all his official meetings.

Darunia watched Impa with eyes that betrayed no emotion. Normally Gorons wore their thoughts on their sleeves, but they knew how to make their faces as impassible as stone. A little on the young side for a Patriarch, he was not nearly as strong, but Impa had noticed he understood the ways of other races much better than the other Gorons. He had been apprenticed to a Hylian metalworker for a time, and lived for a short period in the castle town.

Stroking his chin, the Patriarch said, "I accept your gift. But tell your King that at any point I may give it back, along with all its requests and responsibilities."

"Understood." She held it out toward him, but he motioned toward Darunia to take it. Once he did so, Impa bowed and left as quickly as she could without seeming rude.

"This will be your first task, my son," the Patriarch said gravely. "You understand the Squishy People much more than I ever did. It is a great responsibility, but I trust you."

Darunia frowned at the jewel in his hand. "The Hylians' feud with the Gerudo is understandable. But I must confess I do not understand the King's sense of urgency. It is as if he is preparing for a conflict. I wonder if he has given jewels to any of the other races?"

--

Impa moved swiftly through the Lost Woods. The forest held a special kind of magic, benevolent toward the ones it protected, passive, and yet dangerous to anyone who posed a threat. Like a sleeping snake, it could be left well enough alone, but would bite hard if threatened.

But Impa had no need to fear being turned into a Stalfos. The Shekiah's dark arts made such spells look amateurish by comparison. Most of the Forest's magic was stored in life energy, the green magic of living things. It was simple but potent.

Few people in Hyrule knew much about the Kokiri, the inhabitants of the Forest that were viewed by most as little more than legends, old wives' tales told to scare wandering children. Fewer still knew that the Kokiri's - and the forest's - guardian was not Kokiri at all.

Impa stepped into a clearing and soon found herself surrounded by a mob of very small people, who looked and acted much like children but were in fact much older. Each had a small firefly hovering nearby, a fairy that marked these people as something more than mere humans.

"Have you come for a visit, Walking Shadow?" one of them asked.

"I've come to see the Great Deku Tree. It's very important," she added, unsure how quickly those for whom time had no meaning would grant her request.

"Hmph!" A freckle-faced boy scowled at her with arms crossed. "What does a Walking Shadow want with the Great Deku Tree?"

"I've brought a message from the Hylian King, who lives in the castle on the other side of Hyrule Field." The Kokiri never left the forest, so she knew these places would have only the vaguest bearings in their minds. The point was to make sure they understood she had come from very far away, at least as far as Kokiri were concerned.

"Hmmm…well, if you came all the way out here…" the freckled boy appeared to mull it over, unaware that she had cleared the distance in less than half a day. "All right, follow me."

She walked through a narrow gully, then entered another clearing empty of foliage except for one very, very large tree. Its trunk could have easily fit a small house inside. Its branches did not even start until a couple of stories up, and Impa figured that the top leaves could have easily brushed the tower windows back at the castle. More fairies twinkled around the branches and in the air around them.

"Greetings, Impa of the Shekiah," it said, in a low voice that sounded like creaking branches.

She felt a little surprised upon finding that he already knew her name; yet she understood that the Great Deku Tree knew a great deal more about the world around him than anyone likely realized. "Greetings, Guardian of the Forest."

"What would you ask of me? The Shekiah do not normally come into the woods."

Impa held out the emerald. "A gift, in return for an alliance with the Hylian King."

"Hmm." The tree did not appear to have any expressions, but its voice took on a deeply contemplative tone. "The Hylian King has never presumed our forest to be a useful ally before; and yet I can sense that this is not an attempt to trade for wood or other living things." He paused, and said sternly, "Perhaps you should tell me the whole story."

She sighed. "We foresee troubled times ahead for Hyrule. These jewels are actually keys…keys to a lock that must never be opened."

"Hm. I think I know what you mean. This is very serious, Impa of the Shekiah."

"I know. All we can do is attempt to prepare for it."

The wind rustled the tree's leaves. "You might not know it, but I hear a great many things, carried on the wind. The seed of evil has been planted, though the soil in which it lies is untainted. It could grow into something terrible…or it may never sprout. Your actions in the near future may well have an effect on that outcome."

Impa nodded. "The shadows speak to us in the same way. That is what I am trying to do…secure Hyrule's future, locked tight with these keys."

"You realize that my power, though it is great, is weak against true evil and unfettered ambition. Even the strongest tree can be felled by a mighty wind. Are you sure you want this responsibility to fall to me?"

Impa placed the emerald on the ground in front of the tree; a small knot of fairies hovered over it to investigate. "Your benevolent power is still one of a few securities in these uncertain times. There's no one else I would give it to."

"Very well. I accept your gift. But beware, Impa of the Shekiah…do not guard only against that you see in front of you, or misfortune will befall you from behind."

--

"Ohhh. It is very pretty!"

The Zora King turned the sapphire over and over in his webbed hands, his bright froglike eyes shining. "It is a beautiful thing, isn't it? But…" he sighed, and put the jewel down on a table in front of him. "I'm not sure this pays for the seizure of the Water Temple."

"The King's control of the Water Temple will likely not be permanent," Impa said. "He is acting belligerent now, but most people do when they feel insecure." She could afford to be a little more open with the Zora than the Gorons, as they rarely journeyed beyond their own domain. There was less chance of her words getting back to the King, or anyone who might want to use his weakness for their own ends.

The Queen stared at her with skepticism. "The Hylian King feels insecure? Why would he feel this way, in his huge castle of stone? Certainly, we have ultimate control over the waters that flow down into the valley. But have we ever expressed a desire to cease the flow?"

"Ultimately, it is not our decision anyway," said the King. "It is Jabu-Jabu's, though of course he has granted us control of his domain. Perhaps you should offer the stone to him."

Impa of course knew the answer to that. Jabu-Jabu would not speak one way or another. Demigods were much more difficult to deal with in these situations; they cared nothing for petty mortal wants, and saw no need to humor those who came to them for less-than-honorable requests.

In fact, Jabu-Jabu would probably eat it. Though it certainly would be safe in his belly, she doubted that she or anyone else would be able to get it out again.

"You are the representatives of the Zora, so I offer it to you," was all she said.

The Zora King sighed, but picked up the sapphire. "We accept this responsibility the Hylian King has given us," he said, clearly not happy about it. "But please, Impa, if you hear about anything the King plans to do that concerns us, please let us know. An alliance works both ways."

--

Relo watched Impa leave the King's cavern, until she walked past the pool and disappeared outside the Zora's Domain. Then he ducked into a small shop where his sister worked and gave her the news.

She shook her head. "So we've come under further control of the Hylian King, then. We should be ruling them, not the other way around. How long would they survive without our water?"

Relo snorted. "I've no interest in ruling the Hylians. I just wish they'd leave us alone. It's been years since we've benefited with any relationship to them; sure, they gave us armor for our soldiers, but who would we guard against? The Gerudo don't bother us, and the only nuisance is that Hylian fisherman at the lake that takes the best fish."

His sister yawned, her ire already being replaced by apathy. "Speaking of fish, don't you have a job to do?"

He sighed and rolled his eyes, but had no retort. He picked up the fishing spear he had left behind the counter of the shop and walked quickly to the pool, then dived in and let the current take him to the lake.

He did not notice a swift shadow follow him as he left.

When Relo reached the lake, he intentionally moved to the side furthest away from the Water Temple, then swam in fast circles for a while to burn off his frustration. After a while, he floated to the surface and waited for the fish that he had scared away to come back. It was a fair day, warm with no wind, and under different circumstances he would have been happy to stay out all day.

"Good afternoon," said a voice, quiet but ringing loud in the silent sky.

Relo nearly leaped clear out of the water. "Who's there?" he demanded, staring round and raising his spear.

"It's Relo, isn't it? My name is Ulgo." Relo turned toward the voice, and a young man who had not been there a second before now stood on a nearby island. He had bright silver hair and blood-red eyes, and dressed in the tattered finery of the Shekiah.

Relo did not lower his spear. "Ulgo, is it? How do you know my name?"

"It is our business to know." Ulgo's sharp gaze did not appear to break even when he blinked, slowly. "We are the guardians of this country, after all."

"Psh. The Hylian's guardians, you mean." Relo relaxed just a fraction. "What do you want, Shekiah? I haven't been in the Water Temple since your Hylian King took it over."

Ulgo frowned at him. "You speak as if we are a single entity. Don't you think we have different minds, the same as you? Don't you think that there might be some of us that disapprove of the Hylian King's actions as well?"

"How do you know-"

"Do not fear. I will not speak of this to anyone else. In fact, I came to offer you something."

Relo folded his arms, as well as he could with the spear in his hand. "Oh? Does it come with strings, like the lovely jewel your counterpart gave our King?"

Ulgo made a quick shake of his head. "No. In fact, I would make this as unobtrusive as possible. I have no subversive motives toward the King, I…just wish to correct some of his crimes."

"Mighty neighborly of you," Relo muttered. "So what is this thing?"

"It is Shekiah magic," said Ulgo. "A bit of barrier magic, which will prevent any Hylian interlopers from reaching the priestess' quarters or any of the other most sacred parts of the Temple. They can tinker with the water controls all they want, but the sanctity of the temple will remain pure."

"So this barrier…what is it, a wall? People will notice a wall in the Temple that wasn't there before."

Ulgo's eyes flashed for a split moment. "It is nothing so dense as that. Shekiah magic is…poetic, in a way."

"Well then, what is it?"

"In a room before the most sacred parts of the temple," Ulgo said, "I will fill a room ankle-deep with the Waters of Reflection. These waters are used by the Shekiah to divine the nature of a person's soul. I combine that with shadow magic, giving life to the formless."

"Yes, very poetic." Relo rolled his eyes. "But I'm just a simple mortal, so maybe you should explain this in words people actually use."

"Anyone who enters that room will be confronted by a shadow version of themselves," Ulgo explained. "For the weak of mind and heart, merely seeing their living reflection should be enough to scare them off. For those with strength, it is even more effective; the shadow has whatever power and skill the intruder has. And yet, it is nameless and formless…it cannot be killed, cannot be brought outside the room, cannot be confirmed to exist by the few who have eyes to see such things."

Relo thought. "So…you'd just be putting in a kind of ghost hound to scare people off? Why are you telling me all this?"

Ulgo bowed. "A shadow cannot exist without an object to cast light upon. The Water Temple means nothing to me; but it is important to you. Your permission for me to enter, and your desire to keep out interlopers, are all that I need to ensure that the spell remains even after I am gone."

"This shadow," Relo said slowly, "it doesn't attack the intruder, does it?"

"Only if the intruder has the capacity to attack. It will not harm the unarmed, and will not even appear to a Zora. Who should be carrying weapons in a place of worship, anyway?"

Tightening the grip on his spear, Relo exclaimed, "You're right! Okay, then, Ulgo. You have my permission, as a Zora from the line of Xanthia the Fair, to bar the intruders from our sanctuary!"

--

The setting sun glowed blood-red over the desert, smears of orange and yellow around it. The cold-blooded creatures, snakes and lizards, went to sleep for the night; the rock owls and insects took their place. Under the protective arms of the Sand Goddess, the Spirit Priestess made one final sweep before closing up for the night.

She heard a rustle to her right, and placed a hand on her scimitar. But upon seeing the intruder's unmistakable silhouette in the dying light, she relaxed. "Ganondorf! What are you doing here at a time like this?"

He scowled at her, the lines in his handsome face already deepening from stress and the relentless beatings of numerous sandstorms. "You're supposed to call me 'King' or 'Lord Ganondorf' now, Nabooru. Even if you are my elder sister."

She put her hands on her hips. "This is a weird time of day for a pilgrimage. You're not sneaking in to see those old hags, are you?"

Ganondorf straightened. "It's none of your business what I do. Your job is to keep the Temple in order and act as a messenger to the Goddess." Nabooru laughed. "Stop that!" he demanded.

She grinned at him. "You can play the angry act all you want, but you haven't changed since you were a kid, Little Brother. I know you too well." Nabooru turned serious once more. "I know that Koume and Kotake have been useful in past crises - like that horse pox epidemic - but it's unnatural for anyone to live as long as they have. If they haven't gone mad yet, they will soon."

"Thank you for your concern," he said stiffly and marched toward the entrance, but she caught his arm.

"Ganondorf, listen to me," she urged. "Black magic is dangerous. It's powerful, yes, but it it's too risky. It could destroy you."

He shook his head. "Nothing can harm you if you control it properly, Nabooru." Looking her in the eyes, he said, "We _need_ this advantage. We need something waiting in the wings in case the Hylian King tries to exterminate our race. We've been living on the edge of existence for eons, Nabooru…I won't be the one that allows us to fall into the void."

She looked away. "I still think it's too great a price to pay. I…I don't want to lose you, Little Brother."

"Nor do I wish to lose you." He embraced his older sister, then clapped her on the shoulder. "Come, too much fear blinds us in the darkness. I will light a flame with magic, and you will tend the Goddess' fires. Between the two of us we can forge a future for the Gerudo."


	5. Chapter 5

The child came much sooner than anyone had predicted.

Eldora, the royal midwife, came swiftly and soon put the Queen as much at ease as possible. Yet she could tell at a glance that something was wrong, something that surpassed her knowledge. "Your Highness, though I do not doubt my own skill, you will need to call for a Gerudo midwife. The best they have. The Spirit Temple priestess, if she will come."

"Of course she will come." King Harakan chewed at one of his nails, an uncouth habit for a king, but one that he could not break during a crisis like this. "I will order her to come." His unspoken oath to keep Gerudo away from his wife evaporated the moment Eldora spoke, and he sent his swiftest messenger to the desert.

The messenger's lathered horse panted as he rode up to the Fortress gates. "What do you want, man of Hyrule?" One of the guards shouted down.

"I come with great urgency. The Queen requires your best midwife!" he called, holding up his traveling pass with the King's seal upon it.

The guard opened the doors immediately. Not for the King or his order, but for the sake of the Queen. All the Gerudo knew how easy it was for a woman to lose her life trying to bring a new one into the world.

The messenger attempted to enter the Fortress itself, and grew impatient as he had to repeat himself to group after group of suspicious women. "Out of the way, in the name of the King!" he shouted, waving his pass.

One of the Gerudo snorted. "Which King? We do not answer to your King, little man. Be still or you will shut you in the dungeons until you calm yourself."

"Infernal woman! You will do as I-"

"What's all this?" A booming male voice echoed through the hallway. The messenger's heart froze in his chest as the fearsome Gerudo King, ten years his junior and yet wearing armor that would have weighed down the strongest knight, stomped into the room. He sized up the messenger with one glance of fiery amber eyes. "One of the King's men? What do you want?"

The messenger fought very hard not to faint, and with a great effort managed to force his tongue to move. "Sir…the Queen is about to give birth. The King has asked for your best midwife."

The Gerudo King blinked once, then turned around and walked back down the hall. "I will fetch her. We will be at the castle in a few hours."

"But-"

The Gerudo King turned back over his shoulder, energy crackling through the air as the hall went silent. "So you doubt my word?"

"N…no sir! But you don't need…"

"My Priestess should have an escort. Now go give my message to your King. Go!"

The messenger was only too happy to oblige.

--

The Queen's tortured cries echoed throughout the castle. First came the normal pain of labor, but as time wore on, her voice became higher, thinner, more desperate. Eldora squeezed the water out of another cloth and placed it on Queen Zelda's forehead, grasping her wasted hand. "Please, your Highness, keep trying."

"He won't come out." The Queen's feverish eyes gazed through sunken sockets. "I'm so tired…I can't push any more…"

"His Majesty's messenger just returned. The Gerudo Priestess is coming. All will be well soon, just hold out a little longer."

"No." The Queen spoke in a strange tone, and Eldora's head jerked up. "She won't come in time. All is lost…"

"Come now, that's no way to talk. Don't speak of such things. Imagine your new baby in your arms!"

"Eldora…" Queen Zelda XI's eyes became unfocused. "Terrible times are upon us…thank the Goddesses that she will have the gift of sight…"

"Who?" Eldora demanded, dumbfounded. "Who will have the gift of sight?"

"Eldora." The Queen spoke in a dead voice, as if someone spoke through her. "If I die, you must cut me open. The child must survive."

"Now, that's no way to talk…"

"Promise me, Eldora."

Eldora grasped the Queen's hands, tears running down her face. "I…I promise, Your Majesty."

--

The servant nearly sprinted down the hallways, the Spirit Priestess and Gerudo King fast on his heels. "This way, her room's right down this hall…"

He stopped short. The Hylian King stood surrounded by his advisors, his head in his hands. Upon the arrival of the three, he lifted his head and stared unseeing.

Eldora burst out of the room, her hands stained crimson. "Your Highness, if I am to save the child, I need help…"

King Harakan said nothing. Nabooru looked toward Ganondorf, and he nodded. She walked swiftly toward Eldora and shut the door softly behind her.

--

"_Long Live Princess Zelda!"_

Ganondorf scowled as the people around them cheered. "Naming a child after her dead mother will bring nothing but trouble for her. The Hylian King seems unable to get over a loss."

"Mm." Nabooru said nothing, glancing around the town square, beneath the short tower where Impa held the bundled infant for all to see. The two of them had been kicked out of the castle after Nabooru had ensured the tiny girl would live, and were not permitted back until the presenting ceremony.

"The girl wouldn't even be here if it weren't for you," Ganondorf grumbled.

"And the King wouldn't have kicked us out if you hadn't apologized."

His face twisted in anger. "I said I was sorry for the Queen's death, not anything _we_ did."

"I know." They had had this argument many times over the past few months. "Have any of your pleasant overtures to enhance your 'apology' helped?"

He shook his head. "Harakan is no longer openly hostile towards us, but he is still suspicious. I grow tired of amusing him."

"It never hurts to have a powerful ally, Ganondorf."

"Hmph."

Nabooru said nothing, but turned her attention back to the crowd. Ganondorf had more meetings with the Hylian King later on, and that likely would not improve his mood. She decided she would spend her time with Impa, who had already come to her many times with questions. Even though, technically, she was not supposed to…

--

"What's the problem _now_?" Impa demanded, dark circles under her eyes. She jostled the wailing Princess in a futile attempt to rock her to sleep.

"Babies can tell if you're nervous. Here, give her to me." Impa handed the child over to Nabooru. Zelda quickly stopped crying and turned to sucking her fist instead.

Impa sighed. "I'm not cut out for this. I don't know anything about children. I've never had any of my own, or any younger siblings, either."

Nabooru stroked the child's soft hair. "Why did the King give her to you, then?"

Looking embarrassed, Impa said sheepishly, "The King said…that the Princess is the most precious of all things in the kingdom, and so he trusts her protection to no one but me."

"That's a tall order."

"I know…I can protect her quite well, but I don't know a thing about raising children."

"The Shekiah don't have many children, do they?"

Impa shook her head. "No…even though there are so few of us. I'd hate to think of what would happen if war were to break out…"

Her heavy heart lightened slightly as she watched Nabooru, the battle-scarred, sand-blasted warrior cooing at the baby. "Are you a pretty girl? Yes, you are! Such a pretty baby! Ahhhhbababa ba ba ba ba!" The Princess squealed and giggled as Nabooru pulled faces at the baby, shaking her head so that her golden jewelry tinkled and flashed in the light.

Impa laughed. "How can you do that?" she asked.

Nabooru looked up. "Do what?"

"Act so silly. I've seen you personally split a raider from another kingdom right down the middle."

"Such a tricky little spy you are," Nabooru said, eyes glinting but no malice in her words. "You can watch me fight, but have never seen me with our children? I've delivered many already."

"It just seems…odd, that's all." Impa picked at the fabric of the nursery bed upon which both of them sat. "I mean, things are as hard for you as they are for us…"

Nabooru thought for a moment, bouncing the baby slightly in her arms. "Death can be found around every corner, so we Gerudo take life as fully as we can. Live well, and die well…that is the philosophy we swear by." She shifted the Princess to her other arm. "What about the Shekiah? Surely you're not all gloom and shadows, all the time?"

"Not really, no…" Impa watched the gurgling baby. "We have a lot of responsibility, you know…but then so do you. Where do you find time for it?"

Nabooru grinned. "Wherever we can."

Suddenly the door burst open, and King Harakan entered with Ganondorf standing respectfully outside. "Impa, I need you to…" He stopped dead upon seeing the Princess in the Gerudo woman's arms.

Nabooru handed Zelda back to Impa. "Here, I've held the child enough."

Harakan turned to Ganondorf. "If you'll excuse me, I need to speak with my servant alone," he said with forced politeness.

"Of course." Ganondorf bowed slightly, and Nabooru followed him out of the room, jumping slightly as Harakan slammed the door behind them. As they walked away, they heard the Hylian King's sharp voice, followed by Impa's short words of apology and the renewed wails of the baby.

"That piece of filth." Nabooru's head jerked up as she heard Ganondorf speak, wondering who he was speaking about. "Are a Gerudo's arms too dirty to hold his little brat? I don't see _him_ trying to raise his own flesh and blood."

Nabooru felt a little uneasy that her King would speak with such open contempt about another in his own castle. "It's all right, I'm sure Impa can…"

"It is _not_ all right," he growled. "He should not speak that way, if he wishes to…be an effective ruler."

Nabooru shivered slightly, wondering what Ganondorf would have said if had truly spoken his mind.


	6. Chapter 6

Impa awakened late one night and automatically rolled over in bed toward Zelda's crib, used to being woken by a child's cries. But the baby was silent. Impa gripped the knife beneath her pillow and stared with wide red eyes into the night.

"Impa, it's me," a familiar voice spoke, sounding as tense as she felt.

"Digo?" She sat up in bed as her brother's silhouette formed in the moonlight. "What in the name of Nayru are you doing here, at this hour?" She spoke at no more than a whisper, not so much to prevent waking the baby than to keep the guards at their watch-fires.

"Impa, Ulgo has created a faction among the Shekiah."

"What?" Digo's words carried as much weight as if he had spoken of the sky falling or the lake boiling. "After Mika? Why would he dare to-"

"It's because of Mika." Digo sat down on the bed next to her, ramrod straight and his eyes glowing ever so slightly in the dim light. "I don't know what to do. You're the only one most of the Shekiah will listen to, and since you've gone Ulgo has drawn more to his side."

"What on earth does he plan to do?" In the crib, Zelda fussed and Impa stroked her hair in an attempt to get her to sleep.

"He's speaking about open rebellion against the crown. We need you to come back and talk some sense into the ones that are starting to listen."

Zelda let out a wail. Impa picked her up and held her, trying to rock her back to sleep. "I can't leave, Digo. If I leave Zelda, that's treason. If I bring her with me out of the castle, that's treason. My hands are tied."

Digo stood swiftly, spreading his arms in frustration, but still keeping his voice to a low whisper. "Impa, they won't listen to me. You're the only one that can keep the Shekiah united."

"Did you not hear me?" Impa hissed, trying to muffle Zelda's cries. "I can't leave the castle."

He stared at her with a helpless intensity. "Then what should we do?"

She paused, deep in thought. "What exactly has Ulgo's faction been doing?"

"Nothing serious, yet. But they seem to be laying a foundation for war between the different races of Hyrule. They know the King wants to create one country, and many of them want no part of it."

Startled, Impa stopped bouncing Zelda. "What? One country? Where did you hear this?"

Digo stared. "You didn't know?"

"I delivered gems to the leaders of some of the other races, to ask for their alliance. But making them submit to him is totally different!"

Digo's expression darkened. "He used you, Impa, and you didn't even see it."

"It was my idea!"

"No, Impa. You wanted to create an alliance, but he wanted to take it further. That's why he assigned you to nursemaid duty."

Impa's eyes flashed. "Protecting the future heir to the Hylian throne is very important!"

"I don't deny it. But ever since the Princess was born, you haven't been acting as the King's advisor, have you?"

Impa thought, then shook her head. She had never realized it, being completely immersed in trying to care for a newborn baby.

"He's acting on his own ideas, and they're not good ones, Impa. He figures that if he gets the rest of the country to bow to him, he won't have to worry about fighting."

"That's absurd. I don't think the Zora will buckle under pressure…I know the Gerudo won't. He risks open rebellion…" She paused as it began to sink in. "That's what Ulgo's group is hoping for, isn't it?"

Digo nodded.

"I have to warn him." Impa climbed out of the bed, setting the fussy baby down briefly as she began throwing on her clothes.

Putting a hand on her shoulder, Digo shook his head. "I already tried. He won't listen. Or, rather, he did and decided to turn to the Order of the Triforce."

"What?!" Forgetting herself entirely, Impa yelped and jolted Zelda, who yowled with a cry that pierced the night.

A sleepy-eyed guard opened the door to the chamber. "Lady Impa, is everything all right?"

"Yes, I apologize. I just had a nightmare, that's all, and woke the baby."

He nodded tiredly. "All right then."

Impa turned to the shadows where Digo hid. "Brother, does the faction know what the King is doing?"

"No. I don't believe so."

"Make sure they don't. If they discover that he's mustering his most elite order of knights, then that's the group that will be targeted first. And if the Order of the Triforce is attacked, then…" She hesitated even to say it. "Then we risk open war."

"I understand." Without another word, Digo disappeared.

--

"Unite the different fiefdoms of Hyrule? Are you sure?"

The tall, fox-faced nobleman nodded gravely. He stood dressed in fine silk, just understated enough so that it did not compete with the King's wardrobe. As head of the Merchant's Guild, he had a certain reputation to keep, especially among the members of the other Guilds. "I overheard His Majesty speaking to one of his shadow advisors. He plans a takeover of the entire land known as Hyrule."

"It's about time!" Raymor, the head of the Metalworker's Guild, piped up. He scratched his scraggly beard. "We are the Goddesses' chosen people; we should rule all the others!"

"Or at least the Zora!" the head of the Farmer's Guild said. "Finally, after taking their Water Temple, we don't have to worry about our entire harvest draining into the lake! You act as if this is a bad thing, Malad!"

"I understand, Talon," the fox-faced nobleman answered. "This indeed could bring about great success for Hyrule…if our counterparts can run the Guilds as well as we can."

"What do you mean?" Salina, the Tailor's Guild representative, asked.

"Well, for one thing," Malad said, nodding to Raynor, "I imagine a Goron would end up as the head of the Metalworker's Guild. You obtain most of the King's finest weapons and jewelry from them, don't you?"

Raynor scoffed. "But that would make them…"

"…Equal under the law." Maladuim's eyes swept over the seated group. "They would have equal audience with the King, equal chance at becoming a Guild Head, and treated equally in terms of setting up shop in the town."

Raynor blanched, but Salina and Talon scowled at him. "That's the way it should be," Salina stated. "Each position to the one best suited for it!"

"Did I mention that the King plans to include the Gerudo as well?" Malad said softly.

All of them made sounds of disgust except Talon. "So if that helps them become civilized, all the better!" he snapped.

"Your activities among the Gerudo have blinded you to their faults," Maladuim told him genially, and Talon flushed bright red. "The simple fact is that if this happens, Castle Town will become flooded with the desert whores plying their trade…and those who don't tempt our men by night, will try to score positions in the army. We can't trust them, as Gerudo or women, among our knights."

"I think you're making something out of nothing," Salina spoke with an icy hiss. "If you do not trust _me_, as a fellow Guild member, we might as well abandon this meeting."

Malad bowed. "Forgive me, Lady Salina. I should have said, 'we can't trust them, as _Gerudo women'. _I would never accuse you of such activities."

Salina looked unconvinced. "Your prejudices aside," said Talon, "I'm not seeing the problem. It would be harder for us, yes, but we would all be under the same laws and not have to worry about pleasing more than one king. One is quite enough!"

"I think we should deal with these matters as they come up," Selina stated, now much calmer. "I'll say right away that this has no bearing on _my _trade. The Gerudo and Kokiri wear different clothing, and the Gorons and Zora, none at all. There is no competition."

"And my guild is always the first to suffer when the leaders disagree!" Talon added. "Angry Zora flooding the plains, angry Gerudo burning or stealing from them…I'd rather have the protection of one king than have to barter it from all of them!"

"Well, it's all in the King's hands," Malad said lightly. "I just thought I should air these concerns before they come up, so that we are prepared for any problems in the future. Salina, Talon, since this new development will not harm you, we can count on your help in the future, surely?"

"Of course," Salina huffed. "If you feel so threatened by Gerudo women of the night, I can invite them into my trade. We can always use more silk workers."

"And we can lower the price of food if we don't have to worry about destroyed crops," Talon added.

Malad nodded. "Ah, we can probably work past this, then. It is good to know." Raynor sat silently, fuming.

They spoke for the next hour over trivial matters, then Talon and Salina rose to leave. Raynor stayed behind, grabbing the sleeve of Malad's robe. "We can't let this happen," he hissed.

Malad raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? You seem to speak of treason, my friend."

His eyes narrowing into slits, Raynor snarled, "This plan of the King's will destroy Hyrule. I know you hate the Gerudo and their raiding parties more than anyone. Are you just going to stand by and let this happen? Haven't you said anything to the King?"

"The King has been hard to reach as of late," Malad replied slowly. "He seems to think his daughter is under threat…by what forces, I do not know."

"The damned Gerudo! Have you seen their King? A jackal among rats!"

"Perhaps. There are more threats in this world than just the Gerudo. The King's own shadow spies, for instance. I'm sure you've heard tell of what goes on in their 'Sacred Temple'…"

"That's why we have to end this! It's bad enough to have to deal with the Shekiah…but to bring the others into the mix too? The nation of Hyrule will crack under the strain. Such people aren't meant to live together."

"I agree with you, my friend. But what to do?"

Raynor gave him a thin grin. "I know some good men…they've served in the army at some point and they know their way around. If you can find out who in the court plans to put this into place…I can make sure they aren't around to implement those changes."

Malad smiled. "It's risky, my friend. But I like the way you think…"

"For Hyrule. For the greater good!"

--

Ulgo thanked the Goron smith for the repair to his short blade. "It's as fine a work as ever," he complimented Asa, the Goron who did most of the metalwork for the Shekiah.

Asa nodded. "Say, Ulgo, before you leave…you're close to the Hylian palace, right? Do you have any idea why our Patriarch has told us not to sell to anyone outside you and the Hylians? It seems like an odd request…"

"What, you haven't heard?" Ulgo feigned surprise. "The King plans to unite the different tribes of Hyrule under his rule."

"What!" Asa exclaimed, and Ulgo held his finger to his mouth to urge quiet. "I haven't heard of any such thing. I cannot imagine our Patriarch would agree to it!"

"You didn't see the enormous jewel the King used to buy the Patriarch's alliance?"

"Our Patriarch cannot be bought. If you are just trying to start rumors…"

"It's supposed to be for the Temple, officially. You saw what the King did to the Zoras' temple. And when someone gives something, you have to expect they'll ask for something in return…"

"Maybe that's how you work. Gorons are not like that."

Ulgo shook his head. "I don't think the Patriarch understands the price that comes with the jewel. I don't think the King plans on telling him. But that is his ultimate goal." He leaned in close. "Next time you see the Patriarch, look for it…it should be easy to spot, a large ruby inlaid in gold. Don't ask about it, or the Patriarch will think you're out to cause trouble."

Asa narrowed his eyes. "Cause trouble?"

Ulgo lowered his voice to a whisper. "You saw what happened to Garrett Fletcher. Your Patriarch is an honest person, but if he gives the King the slightest idea that someone might have an issue with the Hylian Crown…"

"What can we do?" Asa demanded. "I feel as if everything is flying out of control! You are of a high rank with the King…why don't you talk to him."

Ulgo bowed slightly. "It is a Shekiah's duty to serve, not to advise. I will admit…there are many things we would prefer not to do, but we are bound to our oath with the Royal Family."

"Foolishness," Asa snorted. In a conspiratorial whisper, he said, "Perhaps you should think about other methods of employment for your clan."

Ulgo smiled. "I'll keep that in mind…especially if you want to pursue it as well."


	7. Chapter 7

Edon stood at attention as the Hylian King entered the throne room early in the morning, the Shekiah nursemaid and the Hylian Princess trailing behind him. He kept still and alert as a guard should, watching the entire room but secretly wishing he was patrolling the castle town. That had been his post up until now, and his legs ached from standing around all day. But of course he could not refuse. He had just recently earned the golden talisman that lay around his neck, beneath his light armor, that marked him as a member of the Order of the Triforce.

The King took his seat at the throne, listening intently as one of the scribes unfurled a long list of individuals who had asked for an audience with their ruler. Next to him stood the Shekiah, holding the fussy Princess in her arms. The Princess was now old enough to crawl, and made quite clear her displeasure toward her restricted freedom. But the King would not allow the Princess of Hyrule to be seen on her knees in public, even if only because she could not yet walk.

Suppressing a yawn, Edon watched as the King's subjects came up one by one with some plea or request. As far as Hylians were concerned, the King was a fair and compassionate ruler, allowing even the lowliest of his subjects an audience with him if the situation were dire enough. He also favored the Gorons, probably because he valued the beautiful jewelry they made so highly - not to mention the bombs that would give him an edge in any war with his neighbors. The Zora rarely came to the castle, so Edon couldn't tell how the King felt about them; and though he had heard that the stories of people living in the forest were more than fairy tales, he had never seen one of them either. The Gerudo, of course, could only speak to the King if they sent their own.

A young tradesman approached the throne, kneeling before the monarch. Most likely he wanted to ask the King's favor in setting up his own shop. It was a mere formality - nearly always approved - and like the King's odd behavior toward the different races, Edon could not figure out the logic behind it. He did not waste much time thinking about it; though technically nobility themselves despite their birth, the knights of the Order had a very different code of ethics than the other members of the court. Bravery, chivalry, and sacrifice were qualities that only a select few of the Goddesses' people possessed.

It happened so suddenly that it was over before Edon could even react. The young man at the King's feet suddenly leaped up and hurled two small knives, one at the King and one at the Princess. The Shekiah acted instantly and turned her back to shield the Princess, throwing out one arm. One blade buried itself in her shoulder, the other rang off the side of her own short sword, inches from the startled King's face. The would-be assassin drew another knife and slit his own throat before the knights could reach him. Some of the knights searched the body for any clue to the man's crime, some of them crowded around the King, still others shooed the remaining people out. Edon ran to the Shekiah's side.

"Are you all right, Lady Impa?" he asked.

She handed him the Princess. "Please, hold her for a moment." The knife had sliced her shoulder muscle, making it difficult for her to use her left arm. With her good hand she pulled some styptic material from the pouch at her side and pressed it against her bleeding back. "Please, press it against the wound."

Edon held the impromptu bandage against the wound as Impa pulled the knife from her own back. She placed the bloody blade on a small table, "for evidence". Impa handed him more of the styptic material and between the two of them they were able to stem the bleeding.

The entire time, in all the chaos, the young Princess clung to him with wide eyes. The look on her face chilled him. She was too young to understand what had just happened…wasn't she? He would have felt better if she were crying, simple childlike tears, a normal reaction to the sudden change in routine. But she stared at him as if she understood how close she came to death. She did not make a sound.

"I'll take her back now." Impa's voice pulled Edon out of his reverie.

"Are you sure you can manage?" He asked. Despite her attempts to mask it, he could see her pain through her eyes.

"I'll be fine. We are a strong people, and we have plenty of medicines." Impa managed a small bow and walked out of the room, the bandage that had been pressed into her torn clothing bright red against the gray fabric. The entire time, the Princess's eyes remained locked with his.

--

Edon returned that night deeply unnerved. He managed a soft hello to his wife when she let him in the door, and walked straight to his son's crib. "He's sleeping," Maia told him, following close behind with a puzzled expression.

He touched the newborn's wispy blonde hair. Unable to hold himself back, he reached into the crib and took the boy out. Bright blue eyes opened and the baby looked upon his father with a contented sleepiness.

Edon could not help but smile. "Link doesn't get upset by much, does he?"

"He's a very good baby." Maia put her hand on Edon's shoulder. "My dear…you seem strange this evening. Did something happen at the castle?"

He did not speak for several moments. "It's not for me to say."

"I won't ask, then. I know what you see in the throne room is confidential."

Edon sighed, sitting in the small chair where Maia normally rocked their son to sleep. "There's trouble coming, Maia, I can feel it. Our King is a decent man, but…I feel that things are out of balance. He possesses Power, but not enough Wisdom or Courage."

Maia regarded him gravely. "You must feel very strongly to speak this way about our King."

He sighed. "I'm a warrior, not a diplomat. And yet it seems that he is not handling things as well as he could. Perhaps I'm blind. Perhaps I can't tell how to act outside of the way of the sword…"

Gently placing her hands on his shoulders, Maia said, "I understand. I feel it too."

His head jerked up. "You do?"

She nodded, her light brown curls falling into her face. Her husband's hair was a haystack blonde; their son looked much more like his father. "Most of the other girl scribes just used their station as a way to pass their time and find a suitable husband. But I found our country's history fascinating. I delved deeply into it…and I can tell you that things have not always been this way."

"Really?" Edon asked eagerly. He bounced the baby, who didn't seem to mind. "What was it like in, say, my grandfather's time? He always made Hyrule out to be greater than it could be."

"It was more wild back then," Maia said. "It was a great land for him, I suppose, as he was a fierce warrior. There were more monsters, more plagues. But the different races were bound closer together. They had to be. They depended on one another for survival."

"What do you think of the rumors, that the King plans to unite Hyrule?"

"I can see it happening," she said slowly, "but it is a bad idea."

"Why is that?"

"The others will not bend to his rule. They shouldn't. The King does not understand what the Zora do to keep the river pure, why the Gorons pretend to be less intelligent than they are. He underestimates the valor of the Gerudo and the hazards of the Lost Woods."

Edon sighed and turned his attention back to Link, who had fallen asleep again. "I don't know what else to do…other than try to make a way in this world for my son." Beaming, he said, "I can already picture him in Hyrulean armor."

Maia laughed. "You have no idea what kind of person your son will be yet."

"He will be a warrior like his father and his grandfather, I know it." Edon stood and placed the sleeping child back into the crib, then looped his arm around his wife. "With the two of us here, we will see to it that he gets the best possible life."

--

The courtiers scattered as the massive form of the Gerudo King entered the throne room, accompanied as always by the guardian of the Spirit Temple. Tittering behind their hands, the nobles wondered among themselves why the King had invited _them, _of all people, when it had become apparent that he could not trust his own.

Their frowns deepened as the Gerudo bowed their heads only slightly and remained standing, as one equal to another. And when Ganondorf spoke, it was clear that he felt the great ruler was merely wasting his time. "Greetings, King Harakan of Hyrule. For what purpose have you summoned us?"

Not so much as an inquiry about the monarch's health! For all his polite words, the desert dweller had essentially asked, "What do you want, and why should I care?" An angry buzz surfaced in the room, silenced instantly by one irritated glance from the fearsome fire-haired Gerudo King.

King Harakan did not seem to be angered by such arrogance; in fact, he appeared to be falling over himself to please the Jackal King and his assumed concubine. "Welcome, Lord Ganondorf! Your peoples' bravery and skill in battle is well known. I have summoned you here to humbly ask your assistance."

The room buzzed again, and neither Ganondorf nor Nabooru could conceal their surprise. "And what, pray tell, would that be, honored King?" Ganondorf asked.

"I'm sure you have heard rumors of unrest here of late," King Harakan said, and when he spoke it was clear that he addressed the entire room. "Those rumors are unfounded. However, when one man speaks of rebellion, others automatically think about it, against their own will. Misunderstandings happen. A small problem becomes larger than it really is. One must lance the boil and let the skin heal. That is where you come in."

Ganondorf said nothing, so the King continued. "There has been a lot of talk about how the Shekiah work under my rule, what they do and whether or not it comes from me. Now, I could speak until I am blue in the face about the honor of the Shekiah, but the fact remains that they are bound to the Royal Family. It makes sense that people might be suspicious of them, even though the Shekiah are there for their own protection.

"Lord Ganondorf, there has been strife against our peoples, but we are not enemies. What I need now is a neutral third party to come in, someone who can speak both for and against the Crown, without fear of losing his head. If a Hylian attempts to commit a crime against another Hylian, be that man a peasant, knight, merchant, or noble, a neutral witness can speak on behalf of he that has been wronged. Or better yet, step in and prevent that crime from happening."

"Give me a moment for counsel," Ganondorf said, and turned to Nabooru without waiting for an answer.

"What's going on?" she asked. "He was treating us like cockroaches just a few weeks ago. What's he planning?"

"I doubt very much that he believes we will do this out of the good of our hearts…though he is so arrogant that he might," Ganondorf answered. "Cockroaches or not, he still feels that all of Hyrule, whether man, animal, or plant, is subject to his will."

"Perhaps he is trying to set us up," Nabooru whispered, eyes narrowed. "Pin a crime on the Gerudo, blame us for whatever problems are going on in the castle, and use that to stop the Hylians' factions from fighting among themselves."

"That is a distinct possibility," Ganondorf replied. "Though if the rumors are true, he's in no position to start a war with us when his own people are divided. I will not stand for more abuse from him, and I think he knows it."

Turning back to the King, Ganondorf said, "Honorable King, I am not sure what assistance we can provide for you at this point. It is a drought year, and we can barely provide for ourselves, much less lend any help to anyone else."

The King flashed a brilliant smile. "Ah, but here I can perhaps help you." He handed a scroll to a page, who trotted quickly the few feet to Ganondorf's side and gave it to him. "I have compiled a list of things we could lose in even a small civil conflict - a simple riot, say, among the peasantry - because I thought to myself, why let this go to waste when I can use it for something?"

As Ganondorf unrolled the scroll, the King continued, "Here you will find grain, cheese, meat, ale, and a great many other things that the farming class provides for us. Instead of risking losing it, I will give it to you."

As Nabooru read over Ganondorf's shoulder, she realized what the King was doing. The Hylians could easily afford to give up simple things that they took for granted, whereas items like cheese and ale were luxuries among the Gerudo. The King could bribe the desert dwellers with things his own people would not begrudge them; and in a drought year, the Gerudo could hardly refuse. She watched Ganondorf's face, but he remained expressionless.

Finally, he closed the scroll. "The Gerudo would be honored to assist in any way they can."

--

"Filthy bastard!" Ganondorf snarled. "Bribing us with things we could obtain ourselves if the Hylians didn't already keep the best land for ourselves!" He clenched the scroll in his fist. "If we were not so desperate, I would have shoved this down his throat!"

Nabooru placed her hand on his shoulder to placate him. "Brother, we cannot afford to refuse. You know this. Thankfully the Hylians have no way of knowing, otherwise they probably would have offered us less."

He unrolled the scroll and slapped it with one hand. "It's already less than such a request deserves! Look at this…there's more ale than cheese and meat combined! We need real food, not liquor. He might as well give us a bag of sweets for all the good it will do us!" He shut it again and opened the door of their guest chambers. "I'm going to speak to whoever it is that is packing this material for us," he said. "I'll ask him to give us real food."

"Be careful!" Nabooru called after him. She meant that he be careful in choosing his words, but of course it sounded to him like she was telling him to be fearful. That only angered him further.

He stomped down the stairs to the food stores, then lightened his steps. Perhaps he could swipe a valuable bauble or two when no one was looking, to make up for a couple of barrels of cheese…

Hearing voices, he stopped behind several casks of wine. Two men spoke, going over the same list that the King had given Ganondorf. "Nine casks. Nine! I can't believe we're going through with this," said the first, probably the boss of the two, as his clothing looked cleaner.

"Not much we can do about it," said the second.

"I can't believe we're wasting this on the damned Gerudo. Savages are bad enough, but drunken savages?"

"Then substitute something else for the ale," Ganondorf said calmly as he stepped into the light. Both men jumped, and the assistant looked as if he would faint.

"Ah, Lord Ganondorf," the boss made a shaky bow. "Forgive us, we're quite attached to our art, and…"

"It doesn't matter," Ganondorf said, looking both of them squarely in the eyes. "We have no need for luxuries. If you treasure your ale, then give us coarse bread…we don't refuse food of any kind. I have no desire to turn my people into drunken slaves to your King."

"Ah…as much as I would like to, I cannot," said the boss. "I am under direct orders to give you exactly what's on the list."

Ganondorf snorted. "Then cut the ale out entirely! If I wanted it, I could take it…and the fields used to grow the barley for it."

"You can't," said the assistant, trembling. "You'd never win. This land was bequeathed to us by the Goddesses."

Ganondorf frowned at him. "What are you babbling on about?"

"When the Goddesses created the world, they entrusted us with its care. The Hylians are the Chosen People of the gods." He pointed a shaky finger at the Gerudo King. "That is why we keep the Triforce, and you will never get it."

Ganondorf looked to the boss for an explanation. "You'll have to excuse him," the man said. "He's a bit of a zealot…he was in the employ of the Temple of Time before he came here." He gave the trembling man a hard stare. "You're not much of an advocate of the Goddesses if you were thrown out of their Temple."

"For being too devout? It is not the Goddesses who believed I erred, but men! You will see what mistake was made…when the time comes…"

The boss pointed to the door. "All right, that's enough. Go outside and get a drink of water, you've lost your wits again."

The assistant complied, grumbling. "Don't mind him," the boss said. "He's not quite right in the head."

"What is the 'Triforce'?" Ganondorf asked.

Shrugging, the boss replied, "Just a legend, really. You've never heard it? See, look at the Royal Family's emblem." He pointed to a barrel of ale. "The three-triangle seal. That's the Triforce. Each little triangle represents one of the Goddesses. Supposedly it exists somewhere, beats me where that could be. You'd think people would notice a giant golden triangle lying around."

"I see. Well, that's irrelevant."

"Indeed." The boss rolled up his list. "Well, if you don't want the ale, I can sneak in some more bread and cheese, maybe even just water…will that work for you? I reckon water is hard to find in the desert."

Ganondorf nodded. "Yes, much better than ale. I appreciate it." He smiled slightly. "Thank you for your assistance."


	8. Chapter 8

The first strike came without warning, in the middle of a clear night with no wind. A merchant held the hastily sketched map he had made that pinpointed the quarters of Hyrule's greatest knights, the living area of the Order of the Triforce and their families. A young farmer passed around daggers made of Goron steel, created without Darunia's knowledge by a Goron smith sympathetic to their cause. A knight who had been bribed with the chance to take one of the soon-to-be-empty positions led them through the halls, making sure the small group of fifteen did not meet the night watch on their way.

Awakened by a loud thump against the main door, Edon knew that nothing making such a loud sound in the middle of the night could be any good. Still in his night clothes, he strode to the bedroom door, drawing a short sword he kept near the bed. Maia propped herself up on her elbows and instinctively moved toward the crib.

The bedroom door burst open. Three men rushed through the door, the first meeting steel against steel as he brought his sword down on Edon's upraised weapon. One man joined in the attack on Edon, while the other made straight for Maia and the crib.

Maia shrieked and seized the heavy pewter lamp by the side of the bed, parrying the invader's blow with a lucky swipe. She struck him again on the side of the head, and when he fell, dropped the lamp to pull Link from the crib.

The man on the floor rose quickly, striking downward with his dagger. At the last moment Maia shifted to the right, and the dagger plunged into her shoulder instead of her lung. She cried out in pain and the baby, who had been silent all this time, let out a panicked wail.

"Run, Maia!" Edon shouted. His left arm, his fighting arm, lay limp and bloody at his side. He held one attacker at bay with the sword in his right hand, the other man dead on the floor. Edon hit his attacker with the flat of his sword, then reached out to grab the man who had stabbed Maia. Maia rushed past him our the door, bright crimson staining her white silk nightdress. As Edon clutched her attacker to him, the man stabbed Edon in the heart.

Maia flew out the main door. "Guards!" she called, but the words died in her throat when she saw the mob of attackers fighting the knights of the Order in the halls. One woman, their neighbor, lay open-eyed on the floor of the hall, blood from her open abdomen staining the carpet.

One of the invaders made a swipe at Maia and she dodged him, running as quickly as possible with her child in her arms. Edon had told her of a passage to use in case of fire or attack. She fled toward it now, one of the invaders following close behind.

The sound of battle carries far on a still night, and falls easily on keen ears. On night patrol with Nabooru and a handful of his warriors in the castle town, Ganondorf raised his head and squinted in the direction of the castle. "What's going on?"

One of his warriors, stationed near the castle walls, ran towards him. "My King, there is a disturbance at the castle. Should we intervene?"

Ganondorf scowled. "I care not about the bargain made with that fool King," he said. "But if we don't put a stop to this, whatever it is, we're likely to be blamed for doing something…or blamed for not doing enough." He beckoned for the others to follow him. "Let's go!"

"Guards! Guards!" Maia ran pell-mell through the courtyard, stirring up those knights that had not already heard the commotion. One of them struck down Maia's pursuer, and she stopped for breath, only to see a turncoat knight strike him down in return. The traitor ran toward Maia, slow in armor but still faster than she was.

She would find no shelter here, she knew. The entire castle was under attack, by whom she did not know. Maia ran for the stables, hoping to take Edon's horse and flee into the town. Hearing the clank of metal armor behind her, she clutched her silent, wide-eyed son and raced into the stables on bare feet. Finding Edon's horse, she pushed the spooked animal toward the door, struggling to climb on its bare back with the child in her arms.

The pursuing knight caught up to her, along with two other men, one dressed like a merchant and the other like a farmer. "Stay where you are!" the knight ordered, lowering his spear toward the horse's heart.

"What do you want?" Maia demanded. "I've done nothing to you! I don't even know who you are!"

"Sorry, madame," said the merchant as he pulled his dagger from his belt. "You're just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"What's going on here?" a loud, deep man's voice rent the night air. The pursuers whirled round and Maia's blood froze as the enormous, hulking figure of the Gerudo King entered the stable. "Why do you attack your own people, and an unarmed mother at that?"

The knight advanced toward him, spear raised. "Mind your own business, desert rat!"

With astonishing speed, the Gerudo King snatched the spear from the knight's hands and thwacked him over the head with it. The knight never knew what hit him. "I asked you a question," he snarled at the remaining attackers. Both drew their weapons and advanced.

Maia's heart stopped as the King fixed contemptuous yellow eyes on her. "Run, woman! Flee, if that's all you're able to do!"

Maia thrust her heels into the horse's flanks and it took off. She held on to its neck with one arm, and onto her child with the other. The horse bobbed and weaved around scores of people running, most of them away from the castle, in all states of dress and undress.

To her horror, several men on horses with spears were running the panicked people down. As she sped toward the town, she noticed one of the men stop his assault and follow her. As her horse clattered into the town streets, she led it down one side street and then another, the sound of horseshoes echoing off the building's walls. Despite the chaos just down the road, the town still slept, and few opened their windows to see Maia and her pursuer race past.

Suddenly a piercing pain burst into her back. Her pursuer had loosed an arrow and hit its mark. Maia realized that she would find no sanctuary here. Head pounding, back and shoulders throbbing, she steered her horse to the town's drawbridge gate. The man still followed her onto Hyrule Field, so she urged her horse on faster and steered it as well as she could toward the Lost Woods. She had grown up near its eaves, and knew a few tricks that the city folk did not.

Her horse found a deer path entering the wood, and Maia thought her pursuit over, seeing the attacker rein his horse in. She watched in horror as he drew his bow, and her head snapped back as the horse reared, an arrow embedded in its flanks.

The horse took off at top speed, running in both pain and fear. It was all Maia could do to shelter herself and her child from the many branches that struck them as the horse careened through the wood. Finally it stopped and bucked, several times, trying to free itself of the biting pain in its flank. Maia managed to jump off, landing hard on her uninjured shoulder, holding Link tight to her breast.

Painfully rising to her feet, she cast a forlorn look around her. She did not know this part of the woods at all, and had no idea how to get back to the edge. What was more, she felt dizzy and weak, and a sense of dread fell over her as she realized she was running out of time.

"O Farore!" she cried. "O giver of life, O divine breath, grant me the courage and the will to find help for my son! I would give my life in exchange for his! O Great Goddess, please hear my plea!"

Maia stumbled through the undergrowth, briars tearing at her exposed legs and bare feet. She repeated her prayer several times, her voice becoming more desperate as merely walking became a struggle.

Suddenly she saw a small light off to her left. Two small lights, in fact, floating on the light breeze. She strained to focus her eyes and found two little people staring up at her, looking much like children and garbed all in green. A girl and a boy. "You're not allowed here," the boy said with a sour face.

"Hush, Mido," said the girl. "Can't you see she's hurt?" She looked up at Maia and the bundle she carried in her arms. "What's wrong, miss? Why are you wandering in the forest in the middle of the night? It's a dangerous place."

"Please help me." Maia fell to her knees. "I ran…the castle was attacked. I was attacked. My husband's dead…I have nowhere to go." The baby fussed in her arms.

The forest boy and girl looked at each other, the fairly lights around their heads dancing softly. Finally the girl said, "We'll take you to the Great Deku Tree. He'll know what to do."

Maia followed them, slowly, painfully. Several times she had to rest, and every time she did, Link let out a low wail that shook her out of the fog beginning to mist over her eyes. She stumbled behind the two children, taking note of the fact that more of them appeared as they walked.

Finally they reached an opening in the forest, dominated by a single, enormous oak tree. Its branches stretched the entire length of the opening, the trunk alone the size of a small house. "Great Deku Tree, what shall we do with this person?" the boy asked.

To Maia's amazement, the tree spoke. "What brings you to my forest?"

"There was an attack at Hyrule Castle…" she sank to her knees once more, setting Link down on the forest floor. "I didn't know where to go…forgive me, great spirit of the forest…"

"There is no need to ask for forgiveness," the Tree said gently. "I harm none who come here for sanctuary, only those who would steal from it or harm its inhabitants. But, alas, though we have potent healing herbs here, I fear your injuries are too great for us to treat."

"Please." She pushed the wailing child toward the Deku Tree. "I beg of you, not for myself, but for my son…please take care of him. He will be…he is an orphan now. In Farore's name, I ask for your blessing."

The forest girl looked frightened; the boy scratched his head. For a while the Tree said nothing. "This is highly unusual," it said at last. "Hylians are not meant to live among the magic of the forest. But…I can sense…this child has an air of destiny about him. I would care for him even if he did not…but something about him leads me to believe that there is a special urgency for his life."

"Thank you…" she laid down on the forest floor. "His name…is Link…"

Maia closed her eyes, and moved no more. Link made a lonely cry that sent shivers up the forest girl's spine.

One of the fairies hovering around the Tree flew down close to the child's face. "Sweetie, don't cry," she said in a soft tinkling voice. "We'll take care of you. Come now, be a brave boy." She smiled as the baby stopped crying and stared up at her. "There you are! Don't worry, Navi's here to look after you." She fluttered just above his face, and he managed a small smile as he waved a tiny hand toward her.

"Saria." The forest girl looked up as the Deku Tree spoke her name. "I am entrusting this child to your care. You will raise him as a Kokiri. He is not to find out his true identity until the time is right. Do you understand?"

She picked up the wriggling child. "Not really…but I will do as you ask." She stared down into the child's eyes. "Poor little guy…what a sad way to enter the world!"

"Mido. I want you to take the rest of the Kokiri and dig a grave here for the mother," ordered the Deku Tree.

Mido made a face. "Burying someone below the ground? That's unnatural."

"It is the Hylian custom, and her spirit with try to follow the boy if she is not laid to rest properly," the Deku Tree replied. "This child will have enough trials to face without a ghost mother chained to his spirit."

"Oh, all right." Mido walked off to the Kokiri village.

Saria followed him, carrying Link, as both her fairy and Navi fluttered around them. "Link, huh? Okay, Link, I don't know much about Hylian babies, but I'll do the best I can for you."


	9. Chapter 9

Tessa held up the guttering candle and frowned at the molding bread in her pantry. "Three nights of curfew, three nights without new guests. And of course the whole thing has to happen when near all the rooms are empty."

"Them's the breaks, I guess," said her husband, Rado. "The flood last year, the drought the year before that…Hyrule's under a curse, I tell ya."

"Balderdash," Tessa said smoothly as she led him back into the bar room of their inn, the Stone Horse. She blew out the candle and placed it next to a lighted one, on the table where her sole remaining guest sat. "Don't be getting superstitious on me. Floods, droughts, riots…they happened in our parents' time and they'll happen in our children's time."

The guest, a small, thin man by the name of Hador, sat trembling on his wooden stool as he watched through the cracks of the curtained windows. "The Gerudo won't come in _here, _will they?"

"Pfft." Tessa made a face. "Don't mind the Gerudo. They're a strange bunch, but they're better warriors than the fool knights that patrol here."

"My brother got caught by them once," Hador replied, taking a good pull at his ale. Rado winced; he regretted telling Hador that there would be no charge for staying indoors at the King's behest. "They let him go, said he wasn't what they were looking for. But if he was, you can be sure he never would have made it out."

Rado folded his thick arms. "I'd rather the King didn't employ them either. But when you've got treason waiting on your front door…"

"I always knew that Radnor was trouble," Tessa said for the sixth time in half as many days. "He had that look about him. Never thought he'd go against the King's Guard, though!"

"The Shekiah'll have taken him," Rado muttered. "Good riddance, I say." Hador shuddered at the mention of the Shekiah.

"What's he need the Gerudo for, if he has the Shekiah?" Hador demanded.

There was a pause, then Rado spoke. "I heard there's a schism among them…not all of 'em are loyal to the Crown."

"Shush!" Tessa hissed. She re-lit her nearly expired candle. "Don't go blabbering about those shadow-walkers at a time like this."

"Day or night, it doesn't make a difference," Rado said with a shrug. "Why worry about it? There's no chance at fighting them? If they want to take you they will." Hador looked about to faint.

"Even so, I'd rather you saved such talk in the morning," said Tessa. "Everything looks darker at night."

A shaft of light cut through the curtains; all three of them jumped when someone knocked at the door. Before any of them could move, a Gerudo stepped inside holding a torch. "Is all for safe now," she said in heavily accented Hylian. "King says curfew is over." She turned and closed the door without another word.

The three at the table breathed a sigh of relief. "I'll be going to my room then," said Hador as he walked unsteadily up the stairs. "I'll be leaving first thing in the morn."

"Not after all that he's been drinking," Rado muttered.

"I'm going out," Tessa said as she tied a shawl around her thick hair.

He stared. "At this hour?"

"Yes, I'm tired of being shut in the house. Besides, I want to know what's been going on." She took her basket, as if merely out to buy some fresh bread, and stepped out the door.

All of the Castle Town had poured into the streets, the Gerudo already completely gone, the townspeoples' heads bent down in little groups as they swapped scraps of gossip. "…the man who owned the new bomb shop, he was one of them…"

"…Gerudo King himself was wandering the courtyard last night…"

"…heard the Princess was brought to Kakariko for safekeeping, but me brother what works in the gardens says that never happened…"

Tessa found her friend Anna, who owned a textile shop down the street. She waved Tessa over to a group of four that Tessa didn't recognize. "Seven dead in the Order of the Triforce," Anna reported, and Tessa blanched. "They think the Shekiah found all the conspirators…that's why they lifted the curfew. But the King seems to think that the conspirators had friends among the other races, too."

A thin woman wearing a maid's uniform nodded. "They was of Goron make," she said. "The swords, I mean. I should know, I've dusted enough of 'em."

"It doesn't make sense," said another. "The Gorons have always been friendly to us."

"Aye, and the Zora are our friends as well, but you know they could cut off our water supply if it came into their heads," Anna replied.

"All right, everyone, go home!" a harassed-looking knight shouted as he limped slightly through the courtyard. "It's the middle of the night! There'll be plenty to do in the morning!"

Slowly, and with much mumbling and grumbling, the crowd dispersed. Once he was satisfied that all were back in their homes - except for the usual night owls and oddballs - the knight leaned on his spear next to his companion. "What a bloody mess. An' we haven't seen the last of it, you know."

The other knight nodded. "Something tells me things are going to be unstable around here for quite a while."

* * *

Frothy golden liquid mixed with shades of blood red as the Gerudo dumped several caskets of beer and wine out onto the plains near Lake Hylia. A few had objected to the spoiling of such luxuries, but their King had insisted; fresh water before wine. A handful of the barrels stayed on their horses with their payment of bread and meat, whereas they filled the others with water by the lake.

He stood staring out over the water, arms crossed. Nabooru walked up to him cautiously, worried about her brother's ever-darkening mood. "The barrels are useful, at least," she said. "We can gather quite a lot of water from the lake, and they're light and easy to carry."

His frown twisted into a deep scowl that turned his handsome young face into a demon's. "I cannot suffer these fools for very long," he said with a growl. "They can't even keep themselves in order, much less the other races. They attack each other like animals, preying on the weak."

"Ganondorf, you cannot expect them to have the same virtues as the Gerudo."

"I don't care about them anymore," he said flatly. "If they have no respect for even their women and children, then neither do I."

Nabooru's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean by that?"

He spoke slowly, and with purpose. "It means that if I find they come between us and our survival, I will not hesitate to strike them all down."

Nabooru stepped back. "Brother, think about what you are saying. Even if we wanted to start some kind of fight with the Hylians, we don't have that kind of power."

"Of course." he bowed slightly. "Forgive me, sister. I spoke out of the darkness in my heart. These are troubled times, after all."

She nodded, her eyes still skeptical. "I understand, brother."

"Good. If we're ready, let's pack up. I want to be back at the Fortress before sundown."

Nabooru turned and started shouting orders to the women stopping up the casks. She looked over her shoulder at her brother, and felt an eerie shadow wash over her. Something was driving a wedge between them, she knew, but even then she felt powerless to stop it.

* * *

"Impa?"

"Digo?" She spoke softly, turning toward the sound of her brother's voice.

He made a sigh of relief, and in the dimness of the secret corridor she could see his silhouette. She stood up from where Zelda sat contentedly on the ground, playing with a few baubles that Impa had managed to gather up before fleeing to the hidden room.

"How is it?" she demanded. "Is it over? I wanted to bring her to Kakariko, but with so many of our own people against us…"

"It's war, Impa," Digo said.

Her heart sank. "No…they can't…"

"I'm sorry." His shoulders slumped, and she could see a fresh bandage around one arm. "We've kept the Shadow Temple, but they've set up a base somewhere else. They're intent on bringing down the Royal Family, and they've gotten to quite a few people in the different races to do it." Digo sat down on the floor, next to the toddler Princess. She smiled and offered him a golden ball, and he took it absently, staring at it without seeing. "The only thing working for us is that the Gerudo will side with whoever will offer them the most, and Ulgo's faction has nothing concrete to give them…yet."

"Yet?" Impa said with a slight tremble in her voice.

Digo ran his hand over his face. "Somehow the Gerudo King found out about the Triforce. I saw him sneaking around in the archives right after he met with the King. If Ulgo tries to exploit that…"

Impa scoffed. "Ulgo wouldn't be such a fool to offer it to one man when he thinks the other can't handle it. I thought he wanted to make the Shekiah the guardians of the Triforce."

"Ulgo underestimates the Gerudo King. We believe he's going to try and gain his favor by promising him the Golden Power…and not really give it to him, you see, just string him along. But Ganondorf is no fool, and he has been learning dark magic…" Digo shuddered involuntarily. "The twin witches…they've been training him."

Impa's mouth dropped open. "I thought they were dead! Even if they did find a way to extend their lives through dark magic…they must be close to four hundred years old!"

"I know."

"Da ba." Zelda offered another ball to Impa. It had become her favorite game as of late, giving things and taking them back, rearranging her world how she saw fit.

Impa took it, stroking the child's golden hair. "Digo…what are we going to do?"

He stood up, looking grim. "Fight. Win." He handed the ball back to Zelda before turning to leave. "It's all we can do."


	10. Chapter 10

Matara cried out in pain, her wails echoing off the birthing chamber of the Spirit Temple. One of the priestesses wiped her face with a wet towel as Nabooru, stooping between the woman's legs, encouraged her. "Come, Matara, you're close. Keep going!"

The chanting of two other priestesses contrasted sharply with the frantic yells, their heads bowed toward the statue of the Sand Goddess in front of them. Nabooru shifted her weight slightly over the blanket that would serve as the child's first clothing in this world.

Suddenly a new cry pierced through the noise. Matara fell back in relief and Nabooru let out a whoop of joy as a new life fell into her hands.

But when Matara lifted her head, she saw Nabooru's face as pale as a ghost. "Sister, what is wrong?" she demanded.

Nabooru lifted the baby, still wet and yowling, as the other priestesses crowded around with water and towels. They too stared, along with Matara; except for her deep red hair, the baby looked exactly like a Hylian!

No one said anything for a few moments. Then, one of the priestesses asked, "What shall we do?"

Nabooru washed the baby in a basin, dried her, and wrapped her in the blanket. "Nothing. Any child born to a Gerudo is a Gerudo."

The others exchanged glances; Nabooru knew what they were thinking. But nothing prepared them for the cackling laugh that came from the far door.

"Put it outside, and see how it fares!" This pronouncement came from a wrinkly old woman, stooped over a staff that served as a cane. Where any other elderly Gerudo's hair would have turned white long ago, hers was still a fiery red.

"Yes, yes, its clear that this one's blood is too thin!" Another old woman emerged from the door, looking exactly like the first down to her staff, except her hair was a bizarre and brilliant blue. "It's not a child of the King, that's for certain!"

Matara held her baby tightly, the priestesses shrinking back. But Nabooru stepped forward with her hands on her hips. "That's for the King to decide. You're not welcome here!"

The blue-haired one shook a finger at her, as if playfully scolding a child, but Nabooru could see a glint of true malice in her eyes. "Now, now, Nabooru. Is that any way to speak to your elders?"

Nabooru answered by drawing her scimitars from her belt. The temperature in the room seemed to drop sharply as the two old hags pulled themselves up with glittering eyes. "This one dares to draw a blade in the sacred room of the Goddess, eh, Koume?"

The other hissed. "She should be disciplined, Kotake."

"If you've got a problem, take it up with our King," said one of the priestesses. "The Exalted Nabooru is Guardian of this Temple, chosen by the Goddess…not you!"

Scowling, Koume turned to her sister, speaking so the others could hear. "Exalted Nabooru? Feh! We'll see what the King has to say about that."

Both of them vanished.

The priestess who had spoken turned to Nabooru. "You must get to the Fortress quickly! Those two hags have had the ear of the King lately…he might not believe you if you come too late!"

Nabooru tied the baby in a sling around her shoulder and helped Matara to stand. "All right, don't worry. My horse is just outside."

`Nabooru rode off with Matara and the baby, the horse already well used to following the bright rags flapping from the posts in the wind-whipped desert. For the Wastelands, it was not a bad day. They could go all the way to the Fortress, without needing to take shelter in one of the many bunkers hidden in the sand.

Nabooru's heart sank when she came to the main chamber. Ganondorf sat in the throne with his head to the side, listening to Kotake as she stood next to him. Koume stood on the other side, grinning like a wolf at the two women.

Ganondorf rose and held out his hand before Nabooru could speak. "Let me see the child."

Nabooru hesitated, but did as she was ordered. She could feel Matara trembling beside her.

Flipping open the blanket, Ganondorf peered at the baby with an unreadable expression. "She seems healthy," he said at length. He raised his head and addressed Matara. "Do you know the father?"

Matara lowered her gaze to the floor. "The horse trader in Hyrule Field, my King."

"Hm." He considered for a while, then said, "Matara, I want you to take this child to her father. If he accepts her, you will let him have the child. If not, you may bring her back here, and she will be raised as a Gerudo."

"But, Sire," Kotake immediately broke in, "She will never survive! You can see that her blood is…"

The words died in her throat as Ganondorf turned his amber eyes on her. "All children born to Gerudo are Gerudo. Yes, this child probably would not survive if she stayed on as one of us. But Talon the horse trader is a decent man…as far as Hylians go, anyway…and I see no reason to just end the child's life as you suggested. If she dies, it will come naturally, as the will of the Gods."

Nabooru shivered. She could see Matara trying to restrain herself from reaching for the child. Ganondorf turned back to the mother. "Matara, regardless of Talon's choice, you are to break off all contact with him. If he chooses to keep the child, then she is no longer yours."

Matara froze. "But, I…" Ganondorf's eyes narrowed. "Yes, my King."

He handed the baby back to Matara. As they bowed and turned to leave, he said, "Matara, there is a drought upon us, and we cannot afford to bring into the world more mouths that we cannot feed. If you wish for a child, come to _my_ door next time."

"Yes, Sire," Matara answered, both she and Nabooru leaving as quickly as they dared.

Koume scowled deeply, making her face even uglier than it was before. "Sire, you must be careful. If you start going soft, then you will never accomplish what…"

"Koume, Kotake." Ganondorf spoke in a light, casual voice, turning to them with a slight smile. He opened his hand, and displayed a tiny black flame within his palm. "Your teachings have been invaluable, and I greatly appreciate the dark arts you have bestowed upon me."

He pulled his hand into a fist, and suddenly both women clutched at their necks, eyes wide. Ganondorf's eyes blazed. "But, Grandmothers, do not forget who is the King here."

* * *

"Why did you go outside the tribe?" Nabooru demanded. "You know that's almost never done when there's a King of age."

Matara rode her horse next to Nabooru's, head down. "I…our King has been acting strange, lately. The past few years…he seems…almost foreign…"

Nabooru let out a long breath. "Yes, I've seen it. It is the Hylian King, I think. Ganondorf cannot stomach him. But…the change in my brother saddens me. He won't even let me call him Brother anymore, only King."

Matara's eyes filled with tears. "I was so afraid…that he would kill my baby…she still has Gerudo blood, even if she looks Hylian…I have been afraid of him for the past couple of years. I could not bring myself to go to his room…I thought no one would be able to tell the difference."

Nabooru sighed, patting her on the shoulder. "It's just bad luck. I don't know why this baby looks different. But Talon is a decent man…and she'll grow up among horses, that's something, right? At least some small bit of the Gerudo will be with her."

Wiping her eyes, Matara said, "Yes…that's something…"

Nabooru stayed outside the walls of the ranch. Matara rode inside and was met by the scrawny youth that Talon had taken on to help care for his horses. Matara did not like Ingo; all Hylian men stared at Gerudo women, but there was something about Ingo's look that made her feel disgusted and a little disturbed.

"Where is Talon?" she asked, as Ingo took her horse's bridle.

"Inside the house," he replied. Matara could feel his eyes on her even as she walked quickly to the door.

She knocked and entered, and a short, rotund man turned round with a smile. "Ah, Matara! It's been so long! I'm glad to see you. Would you like some tea?"

Matara smiled in spite of herself. Talon was not the brightest of men, but he had an honest sincerity that could put anyone at ease. "I'm sorry…I can't stay. I…"

"What's this?" Talon reached up and took the little bundle from Matara's hands. "Oh…a baby girl!" He grinned wide as the baby slept peacefully in his arms. "Oh, so sweet! Matara, Matara, is she…"

"She is yours," she said, the words tumbling out of her mouth.

"But this is wonderful!" Talon whooped and grabbed Matara's arm with his free hand. "Matara, she's beautiful! We can raise her here on the ranch, and I'll give her everything she could ever want! No more starvation rations for you, no more battles, no more…"

"Talon." Matara looked away from him as she spoke. "I…we cannot see each other anymore."

He froze, and his face fell. "But…why not? Matara, you were so happy here…"

She tried to blink away her tears, tried not to sully her warrior's reputation. "I am sorry…my King forbids it…"

Talon laid a gentle hand on hers. "Matara…we will all have the same King soon. You don't have to worry about Ganondorf anymore. You can live as free as you like…"

"I cannot." She raised her head and looked him in the eyes. "I cannot live like a Hylian woman, always in the home. That is not freedom. Yes, I do not revere my King, though you will never hear me say it again. I am Gerudo. There is nothing more to be said." She turned and stalked out the door.

"Matara, wait!" Talon ran after her even when she mounted her horse and rode off. "Matara! _Matara!_"

Back at the Fortress, Matara could not be consoled. She stayed in her quarters, unable to do anything more than await her next orders.

* * *

Digo walked slowly through Kakariko, searching. For what, he could not be sure.

Obviously, the hidden lair of runaway Shekiah would not be an easy thing to find. And yet, Digo had an odd feeling that they had not run so far away. His traitorous brethren were holed up somewhere nearby, perhaps beneath his feet, waiting for him to step over them so they could drag him underground.

This underground idea tormented him. He had checked the graveyard, but knew it was foolish; it was too close to the Shadow Temple. He walked the tunnels of the Goron mines, but sensed that they were only taking him further away. He kicked at the dirt, as if waiting for it to offer up some clue he had missed.

Digo walked toward the windmill, frustrated. He knew he was only retracing the same steps he had made several times over. Yet he could not think of anything else. He sat down at the edge of the old, dried-up well, trying to collect his thoughts.

The faintest breath of magic brushed his face. He sat up, alert, trying to sense it again. It was faint, but nearby. Some powerful spell was hiding something from him, possibly right under his nose. Digo cocked his head, trying to pinpoint the source. Then, suddenly, it struck him.

_The well. _


	11. Chapter 11

_Five years later…_

"Let me go!" The small boy twisted out of Mido's grip, taking off into the forest.

"I said you're not allowed!" Mido shouted after him. "Get back here!"

The boy, smaller even than Mido, had managed to scramble up the vines on the far side of the Kokiri village. Saria had gone in upon hearing that another Skullkid was causing mischief on the edges. She had left Link with Mido, and neither one was keen on the idea.

Mido ran through the forest, calling Link's name. The boy had the blessing of the Deku Tree, and was therefore protected against the spells that created Skullkids and Stalfos. But lately there had been more and more monsters from other parts of Hyrule taking residence in the Lost Woods.

"Gotcha!" Mido grabbed Link by the collar. He threw the small boy, kicking and screaming, over his shoulder and marched back to the village.

"No! Put me down! Put me doooown!" Link wriggled and twisted, but could not break free.

"How many times must I tell you?" Mido snapped at him. "You can't leave the village. You can't leave until you get a fairy. Those are the rules!"

"Your rules are stupid!"

Mido sighed. There was no such rule; he'd made it up to keep Link from wandering off. Of course, all the other Kokiri had fairies, so there was no need to test it. "Look, if I've told you once, I've told you a hundred times. You're not a real Kokiri until you get a fairy. Your fairy is a part of you. You're only half a person without one!"

Finally reaching the village, Mido huffed and puffed as he carried Link up the stairs to his house. He plunked the boy down on the bed and folded his arms. "Now stay there," he commanded, and stomped out of the house. Link sulked on the bed.

Some hours later, Saria returned and approached Mido with a frown. "Why are you so cruel to Link?"

He scowled back at her. "What are you talking about? I saved him from getting eaten alive out there. He can't go wandering around by himself."

"That's not what I mean." Saria put her hands on her hips. "Why do you tell him these things, that he's only half a person because he doesn't have a fairy? You know he'll never get one."

Mido turned up his nose at her. "The Great Deku Tree told us to protect him, but not tell him that he's Hylian. Sooner or later he's going to wonder why he's growing up and we're not. He's going to ask why he's different. So I decided that if we can't tell him he's Hylian, I'd say it's because he doesn't have a fairy."

Saria blinked. She had not expected him to put so much thought into it. "I don't know, Mido…do you really think that the outside world will be just as dangerous years from now?"

He snorted. "When have you ever seen so many monsters inside the forest? If they're in here, there must be thousands more outside!"

Hugging herself, and staring down at the ground, Saria said, "I understand…but still, there's no need for you to be so mean to him. Can't you treat him with a little more kindness?"

"Saria…" She looked up to see Mido with a pained expression. "He's going to have to leave, someday. You're getting too attached to him. It's just going to make it harder for you later on…"

* * *

Link didn't stay at home for long. He sneaked back out again, avoiding the other Kokiri so that none of them could snitch on him to Mido again. He did not intend to go far. He made a few twists in and turns in the woods, then followed the sound of a flute to one of the openings.

The Skullkid there laughed at him. "You got caught again."

Link panted, out of breath. "Yeah, I know. Is he still here?"

Pointing with his flute, the Skullkid said, "Yeah, he's sleeping. Right over there."

Link crept over to the young man, who seemed enormous to Link. He had pointed ears like the Kokiri, but his size alone marked him as an outsider. The part of his face that Link could see was smeared with blood, the rest of it obscured with a huge metal hat that covered most of his head. The man was clad all in metal, and at first Link thought he had come across some other kind of Goron. But he wasn't, he just dressed in bright shiny metal. Link could see the characteristic swelling of a sprained ankle on the left foot, which had been divested of its steel covering.

Link bent over him and shook his shoulder, softly at first, then harder. Finally he managed to elicit a groan from the man, who rolled over and took off the metal hat. His eyes fluttered open, and he stared at link with a wondering curiosity. Link jumped back as the man sat up, wincing.

"You need to leave, quickly," Link urged.

"Leave?" The man made a harsh laugh, tinged with fear. "I'm not leaving, boy. What are you, one of the forest imps? I'll not go back, child. I'll be hanged if I do. All deserters are."

Link didn't understand most of this, and had a sneaking suspicion that the man didn't understand the danger he was in. "You have to leave. If you don't, you'll turn into a Stalfos."

"Food, do you have any food? I haven't eaten a bite in days…"

Link dug into his pockets. Surely the man couldn't be accused of stealing from the forest if Link gave him something. All he had was a few nuts, but the man accepted them gratefully.

He flinched under Link's questioning look. "You mustn't think I'm a coward," he said. "If it was anything but the Shekiah, I'd be glad to fight. But the Shekiah…they're death incarnate. You fight against those, and you don't go home." He swallowed the remainder of the nuts. "Me, I've got a wife and kid at home. I figured, sure, there's always a risk in the army, but Shekiah? No. Can't be done."

He yawned and massaged his twisted ankle, talking more to himself than to Link. "I'll sneak back home, get my wife and kid, and get out of Hyrule altogether. She's got family up north; maybe they'll take us in. No fighting going on up there."

Spreading out onto the soft moss, he nodded toward Link. "Much obliged for your kindness, boy," he said, and rolled over to sleep.

Link decided there was nothing more for him to do here. The man would leave soon, hopefully before the spell would take effect. The other Kokiri thought nothing of outsiders becoming monsters, feeling it was justice served for taking the fruits of the forest without permission. But it always disturbed Link. Outsiders or not, they didn't deserve such a horrible fate.

* * *

"Blasted pantry's empty again!" Ingo screeched in his high, reedy voice. He turned with contempt toward Talon, who lay asleep on the floor with the cuccos, the smell of ale hanging in the air.

The master bedroom door opened, and he turned to see Malon standing there. "Stay here!" Ingo ordered. "I'm going to go into the town to buy food. Don't you dare leave the ranch, or I'll give you a whipping you won't soon forget!" Lowing his voice, he muttered just loud enough for her to hear, "Stupid idiot never drank so much before the kid came…" He exited and slammed the door.

Malon retrieved a pillow from the bedroom and put it under her father's head. Ingo would never hit her; her father would throw him out if he did. Yet he still threatened her on a regular basis. It did not have much effect.

She sat and watched Talon's chest rise and fall, waiting until she knew Ingo would be out of sight of the ranch. Then she got up and, making sure the door was locked and the key around her neck, walked quickly toward the ranch's borders. She trotted around the high wall, until she came to a low fence. Climbing on the fence, she sat and waited, her red hair shining in the sunlight. If she was lucky, the Lady would come. Malon did not know where the Lady came from; she had appeared one day when she was three, sitting just outside the ranch and crying because Ingo had scolded her for taking extra sugar at breakfast.

"She's a fairy," Malon had informed her father later, face beaming. "She has hair like mine. She wears pretty pink and purple clothes. She has a horse."

"Sounds like one of those filthy Gerudo!" Ingo had sneered at her. "Don't wander off, girl. They'll catch you and throw you in their cooking pot, eat you for dinner!"

"Ingo!" Talon scolded as Malon gasped with wide eyes. He turned to his daughter, patting her hand. "Gerudo are like any other people, Malon. Some are good and some are bad. You shouldn't talk to people you don't know. If you see a Gerudo or anyone else, tell me first, and then you can talk to them if I say it's okay."

"Pft." Ingo took a long drink. "You're the only person who ever had a Gerudo give them something…they steal from everybody else."

But Malon didn't care what either Ingo or her father said. She felt convinced that the woman had been sent by the Goddesses just for her.

As she sat on the fence, she heard the familiar gait of a horse. Excitement bubbling inside her, she squirmed on the fence until the rider came into view; a young woman, riding bareback in the Gerudo style. Malon smiled and waved, then ran to her as the Lady dismounted.

The Lady scooped her up into strong arms, hugged her, stroked her hair. Malon squirmed further into her chest, enjoying the attention. For a while they sat on the plain like that, Malon basking in the warmth and breathing in the earthy smell of the woman's perfume.

The Lady spoke, producing a hairbrush, and Malon sat obediently with her back to her. The Lady never spoke any words she could understand, yet somehow she understood when Malon spoke. Fairies, she reasoned, could speak all languages.

Malon sat quietly as the Lady brushed out the tangles in her hair, humming a tune as she worked. Always the same one. Malon had learned it by now, and she too began to hum along. The Lady laughed in surprise and gave Malon a little squeeze. Malon felt as if she would burst from happiness.

Once finished, the Lady stood and gestured to her horse. Malon nodded, and with great enthusiasm scrambled onto the horse's back, with the Lady's help. She threw her arms around the horse's neck and enjoyed the slight jumping trot of the horse as the Lady led it in a large circle. Talon would not let Malon ride their own horses, he was afraid she would get hurt. But nothing bad ever happened when she rode the Lady's horse.

Once finished, the Lady helped her down and gave her a little kiss on the forehead. Malon felt a little strange giving a fairy a kiss, so instead she touched the bright jewel in the middle of the woman's forehead. If she was lucky she might get another kiss or hug. Then the Lady would mount her horse, wave good-bye, and ride back the way she came.

Some day, when her father decided she was old enough to ride a horse, she would go out along Hyrule Field and find out where the Lady lived.

She made her way quickly back to the ranch, unlocked the door, locked it behind her, and ran up to the bedroom. In just a few minutes she heard Ingo come into the downstairs room.

She nearly jumped out of her skin as she heard a knock on the door. She opened it and saw Ingo standing there with a plate of bread and cheese. "Here, girl. Eat something before you get so thin you disappear."

"Thank you, sir." Talon had taught her to be polite even when Ingo wasn't.

Ingo sighed, looking back at the man on the floor. "Your father wasn't always like this. But after he met that woman, everything went downhill."

"What woman?" Malon asked, curious.

"Never you mind. You'll figure it out eventually," he said with a snort. Then he walked back down the stairs, to get the horses ready for the night.

It would not be until three years later that another Gerudo came to the ranch, asking to speak with Talon. Malon was outside with the horses, but she could hear her father sobbing. She ran into the house. "Papa, what's wrong?"

He didn't answer. But on the table, Malon saw a golden chain. Attached to it was the jewel that the Lady always wore. Malon never saw the Lady after that.

As for Talon, he began sleeping even more.


End file.
